The notes Fiat sent out were part of a marketing campaign to introduce the Cinquecento to Spanish consumers — the plan was to prime demand with the request “for a couple of minutes [together]” and then, four to six days later, follow up with a letter explaining that the note was from the car company with an invitation for a test drive.
But by the time those notes arrived, the damage had already been done. Women reported the threatening-sounding notes to local authorities. Communities were on the lookout for deranged love-lorn maniacs.
One of the 50,000 targets, though, did end up taking Fiat up on their offer for a few minutes — she asked for her day in court. And she won.
Least sexually aggressive Italian company.
Eh, more like average.
Bonus fact: Fiat, apparently, didn’t learn its lesson from the 1994 stalker note debacle — at least not immediately, or, perhaps, not internationally. In 2016, Fiat Argentina gave new car owners “a car manual which refers to women as ‘co-pilots’ and men as ‘alpha males’” while also “featur[ing] comments on women’s legs and the length of their skirts,” according to the BBC.
LMAO HOW THEY CAN BE THAT DETACHED FROM REALITY??? company executives never touched grass in 30 years wtf
I mean, Berlusconi was Italian prime minister less than half a decade prior, so kinda par for the course at the time really
Jeeeesus yikes
Absolutely hilarious
Nice
And of course it was a women’s car with the 0.7 litre engine in a 700kg car