It used to be easy. Whichever car company promised to purchase
the most advertising space in the coming year and promote the upcoming 'award' on their division's TV and radio spots, billboards and wherever else possible, would be named 'Car of the Year'. And just about EVERY publication (and now, almost every TV and radio show and website and BLOG sniffing around Detroit's, Tokyo's and Germany's respective butts for ad dollars) takes part in this annual farce. You've already seen for yourselves how many "opinionated" BLOGS and websites have become much more "enthusiastic" and "manufacturer friendly" since adding advertising from the auto-makers. All those advertiser-bought-and-paid-for sites, shows and magazines ain't called "enthusiast" for nuthin'! Advertising itself is not inherently "evil" --- But I've worked at enough print and electronic media outlets where it was "understood" that, for the most part, the staff "Never met a car they didn't like --- Especially if that car's manufacturer advertised with us!" The "wall" between editorial and advertising which exists at most top-notch daily newspapers simply does not exist at automotive mags, websites, BLOGS and all the rest.
And now the "North American Car and Truck of the Year" awards have got a little problem --- seems someone forgot to include the 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited in the balloting. And the awards have already been announced (at least to insiders) and now there needs to be, ala Florida-style, a revote by the judges. More on that in a bit, from the Detroit News. This is somewhat good for the awards because it is probably the most press mention they've ever received. It is bad because it shows, once and for all, what an unnecessary and cash-seeking folly all these awards are ... and how they mean virtually nothing to the buying public.
In fact, the only auto award which the average consumer might know of (apart from Motor Trend) are 'awards' given by J.D. Power and Associates. And probably less than 1% of the buying public knows that Power does nothing but tally results from polls of car-buyers --- The company does absolutely no 'vehicle testing' of any kind itself.
The only automotive awards which ever meant anything to public, and the only ones which continue to mean anything to the buying public, are the MOTOR TREND CAR OF THE YEAR AWARDS. However, now that MT has divided their awards into so many categories that no sane person can keep them all straight, even those vaunted prizes have lost a great deal of their cache'. But Robert E. Petersen (and his Detroit sales genius, Bob Brown) put together such great advertising packages for the purported 'winners' that Detroit simply couldn't resist (and also to this day, Detroit can't stop resenting Mr. Petersen for taking so many hundreds of millions of dollars out of Detroit while keeping his corporate offices in Los Angeles. Which is why the Petersen Automotive Museum is in LA and not Detroit). But that's a whole other story ...
When David E. Davis finally brought things 'back to earth' with his Automobile Magazine Awards" --- Chosen because he liked the cars and trucks, and for no other reason --- It sent shockwaves through the industry. You mean awards would now be handed-out simply on the basis of someone who knows his cars and trucks choosing winners simply because he likes them for their fun, appearance, performance and value quotients? Amazing! Shocking! And to this day, David E. is still the only one doing this. However, Davis, who has spent his professional lifetime bouncing between advertising agencies working for the car companies and magazines promoting the car companies knows quite well which side his croissant is buttered, so Davis' 'awards' might be more subtle and wise-ass, but it's a gimmick all the same.
Now here's the latest on the ill-fated 'NATOTY" from the DETROIT NEWS:
"The 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited never had a chance to become the North American Truck of the Year. Not one automotive journalist voted for the new four-door Wrangler. They couldn't because it was mistakenly left off the ballot.
So for the first time ever, the jurors are being asked to vote a second time to determine the North American Truck of the Year. Organizers issued a new ballot to voters this week.
"We just missed it," said John McElroy of Blue Sky Productions and TV host to "Autoline Detroit" and "American Driver." "We're really kicking ourselves here, but we made a mistake and now we're going to fix it."
On Wednesday, the day after announcing the redesigned Chevrolet Silverado pickup and the Ford Edge and Mazda CX7 crossovers were finalists for the North American Truck of the Year, organizers realized the ballots sent to journalists omitted the first-ever four-door Wrangler built in Toledo.
McElroy, one of the seven journalists on the award's steering committee, said it won't be difficult to correct the mistake.
Jurors have been asked to revote for all truck candidates by Tuesday. If the Wrangler Unlimited cracks the top three, it will be added as a finalist without bumping any other finalist. The Silverado, Edge and CX7 are guaranteed to be finalists.
Chrysler applauded the committee's decision to send out a new ballot.
"Hats off to them," said Jason Vines, Chrysler Group's vice president of communications. "They saw they made a mistake and they're doing the right thing by asking for another vote. (The Wrangler Unlimited) deserves a spot on the ballot."
The award is not sponsored by the North American International Auto Show, but it's presented Jan. 7 during the Detroit show. Winners routinely use the award as a marketing tool."
The real stories here have got to be A) How the 
Jeep was left out in the first place, and, B) How none of these fabulous hand-picked "journalists" noticed the mistake!
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