Why Woz's TV spot for auto body shop is wonderful

I saw a homeless man Thursday morning.

On the bench where he was sitting, he had propped a sign. It read: "IDIOTS TAKE STUPID TOO SERIOUS."

When I looked at this sign, I immediately thought of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's latest foray into the public consciousness.

You see, Woz seems to care what you think. But that will never stop from doing whatever it is he finds amusing that day. Or that hour. Or even that second.

So while you might at first be surprised that he has chosen to front a TV spot for the Car West Auto Body Shop of Danville, Calif., please consider that Woz doesn't find his participation surprising at all.

(Credit: Car West Auto Body)

Woz is not a perfect driver. Not only was he once stopped for going 104mph in his Prius, which is an achievement in itself, he also tends to bump his cars into things.

When he does, he hauls them off to Car West Auto Body to be straightened out.

Mark Alexander, vice president at the Larry Alexander Agency, which made the ad, told CNBC News (where you can also watch a video of the ad): "They're having a fantastic reaction to it. All their customers are coming in and saying they've seen it."

Perhaps the best word for the ad is the British term "naff"--somewhere between hokey and cringe-worthy.

It's everything you'd imagine from a local car body shop, with some extremely clumsy references to Woz's appearance on "Dancing with the Stars" and, naturally, his Segway rolling into the very first shot.

However, in a world where nerds are supposed be a little on the inhuman side, there's something curiously refreshing about one of the great uber-nerds doing something just because he wants to, just because he is doing someone a favor (Woz donated his fee to the March of Dimes charity), and totally without embarrassment.

Why take advertising seriously? Only idiots do that.

[rrod182]

Wozsome!

[BLSCPTS]

LOL! Agreed!

[Dalkorian]

Very well said!

[tpmcgee]

Not sure naff is really the right word here. According to a BBC show about the Oxford English Dictionary, the authority on the origin of words in the english language, the word "naff", was as a slang term from the UK homosexual scene. It was an acronym used to describe straight people, "not available for f*cking".

[AppleSuxLeo]

I like Woz...but he should ditch that contraption and get some exercise.

Being English I'd say Chris's got naff pretty well - I certainly use it that way, i.e. to describe stuff that's poor/tasteless/style-less/rubbish (e.g. "naff outfit", "naff food", ...). Never heard of the gay usage, maybe it's died out/historical/only used in limited circles?

[steve4lee]

>poor/tasteless/style-less/rubbish

Wouldn't that be consistent with the gay stereotype of straight guys' taste?