All,
Why do we sometimes love things that others hate?
For instance, my group of friends decided one day that mint chip ice cream is the worst flavor, even when I told them I love it. Thus began the great ice cream debate between me and five people.
I was willing to defend one of my favorite ice cream flavors to death as a barrage of insults came flying at me.
“Mint chip tastes like toothpaste!”
“It’s too sweet!”
“How could anyone like mint chip?!”
The debate lasted 30 minutes and I noticed something about my intentions toward the end of the argument. I was defending mint chip at first because I enjoy the flavor, but some part of me was defending it because I knew it was up against the collective wrath of my friends. If no one defended mint chip, it would be written off forever as one of the worst ice cream flavors. I needed to disagree with them so that it could stand a chance.
That’s exactly what the owners/fans of the utilitarian Yugo, which debuted in 1985 for $3,990, feel whenever they defend the little lemon. One of the most critically panned cars of all time according to a recent New York Times article. The car was viscously attacked throughout its entire life described by some outlets as “‘hard to view on a full stomach’” and ‘the Mona Lisa of bad cars,’ and it was said to look like ‘something assembled at gunpoint’ — particularly fitting because the Yugoslav company that built the car, Zastava, also made firearms.”
The car was an easy target for the late-night hosts of the era, especially Jay Leno.
“Yugo has come out with a very clever anti-theft device,” went one Leno gag. “They made their name bigger.
All of the hate wasn’t misguided. Consumer Reports laid into the car in its review.
The review from the ordinarily staid Consumer Reports verged on cruelty. The engine “struggled and strained to climb highway grades in high gear.” On acceleration, “Our 0-60-m.p.h. run took 18.5 seconds.” The transmission? “Easily the worst we’ve encountered in years.” The interior was “covered with cloth that resembles towel material.”
It seems like everyone hated this car. If you read all the reviews and digested all the media surrounding the Yugo, it looked like everyone agreed.
Now, nearly 40 years after the car was introduced, the Yugo has some fans defending it.
The Yugo fans will go to bat for the little car and will figuratively die on the hill for it. They’re even winning awards at car shows thanks to the Yugo.
“People are buying these cars as jokes now, and to win awards in car shows,” said Nick Bygrave, an employee at Midwest-Bayless Italian Auto, an Ohio Yugo parts supplier in Columbus. He found a moss-covered 1987 GVS that had sat in a field for 20 years, but it ran. Once the moss died, it looked like a matte paint job.
“I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but it won Cars and Coffee every time,” Mr. Bygrave said of regular meets.
So, what is the appeal of this car? It definitely isn’t the prestige or the quality.
It’s the feeling of defending something that goes against the grain. The people who are fans of this car are classic contrarians, people who disagree for the sake of disagreement. They know liking this car is wrong, but they do it anyway. The thrill of being in a car that is historically hated because it’s terrible is just too much for some people to stay away from.
Think about that movie, song, activity, or whatever it is you like to do that could garner hate from the masses. Could it be that you love it because it’s hated?
I’m going to get some mint chip ice cream while you think about that.
Jacob Czopek