And then there was none! Remember when car ads used to be so rampant? All you needed was a bank willing to believe you were making 3 times your actual salary to give you a loan, a car (exclusive) dealership which was willing to cut the price of the old stock to make way for the new, and people wanting nothing but to impress one another by driving the latest model.
I know a company owner who told me (prior to the 2019 crisis) he needed to exchange his car yearly with the newest model, so that his competitors would never assume he is making a loss. But now of course, things have completely fallen apart. So fallen are they that well, even the second hand car dealerships seem to be sounding the alarm that many might be closing down.
Actually it was a perfect storm - not just the collapse of the banks and people no longer being able to touch their money, but also the high unemployment rate, the skyrocketing price of the fuel, the inability to pay by installments, and the list continues.
At this point, car ads are a rarity. Last time I went to town, two ads for two different brands were running concurrently each on one unipole - this in itself was a statistical oddity. Bank ads, insurance companies, loans, car loans, ads for car brands are part of a distant past at this point. I know many think the country is doing great what's with everyone sharing images of bars and clubs filled to the brim, but the non-instagramable reality is still much harsher, much darker, and very grim.