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There is a series of Ford commercials that I have been hearing on the radio lately. They all involve some guy talking to a part of his car – the brakes, the dome light, etc. In this particular case, the part is the odometer – “A Word From Your Odometer“.

The odometer is counting off mileage while talking to the driver. “Twenty-two thousand one hundred five point one, twenty-two thousand one hundred five point two” and so on.

I thought to myself, “Self, that odometer seems to be counting off tenths of miles faster than I’ve ever seen my odometer go. I wonder how fast this radio commercial guy is driving.” So I timed it. Here is the commercial:

Narrator: “Genuine Ford and Lincoln Mercury Parts and Service Presents: Your Odometer”
Odometer: “.1 … 22,105.2 … ”
Driver Guy: “Thanks Odometer, I …”
O: “22,105.3 … ”
DG: “So you’re telling me I should go …”
O: “Go-to-your-Ford-dealer-for-scheduled-maintenance point four”
DG:”I will, thank you. You know, …”
O:”22,105.5”
DG, along with O: “five point five”
N: “Get the Works Fuel Saver Package: oil change, tire rotation, multi-point inspection …”
and the narrator goes on with the rest of the spiel.

Odometer counts off 4 tenths of a mile in 13 seconds (starts 22,105.2 at time = 7 seconds into the commercial and finishes 22,105.5 at t=19s (assuming that 22,105.6 would start at t=20s)). That makes 1.85 miles in one minute, which equals 111 miles per hour (111 mph = 179 kph, in case you’re wondering).

I am not aware of any roads around here with a speed limit above 100 mph, so I wonder where this guy is driving. Plus he’s discussing vehicle maintenance and service with his car while he’s going this fast. I would like him to concentrate on the road, and also he should not distract the car from its job.

“He said to him, ” Go in peace.” So he departed from him some distance.”
– 2 Kings 5:19