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This is a little old, from the Oscars, but I thought it was interesting:
What do they drive?
Celebrities are now divided into two camps: those who drive gas-guzzling Hummers and those sensitive souls who drive Earth-friendly hybrids. But who's who might surprise you
Samantha Grice
National Post
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Nowhere is what you drive as important as it is in image-obsessed Hollywood. Of course, a celebrity can always take the safe route and display their wealth via the relatively benign Lexus or limousine, but those cars don't always say quite enough.
These days, a star's choice of vehicle speaks volumes not only about their placement in the Hollywood machine but of their politics, rank in the star system and age.
The current manifestation of the you-are-what-you-drive debate comes in the Hummer-hybrid divide, as detailed in last Sunday's New York Times.
A growing legion of environmentally friendly and often sanctimonious celebrities have adopted gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius as their ecological cause du jour and are pressuring their ostentatious SUV-driving colleagues to trade in their gas guzzlers. Hummers, which until the last decade were exclusively used by military personnel, are among the least fuel-efficient cars on the road, getting an average of 13 miles to the gallon as compared to the Prius's 50 plus.
As the eloquent Jack Black succinctly put it in a recent off-the-cuff remark at the Prius-packed Academy Awards: "If you didn't come to the Oscars in a hybrid, you're a jerk."
The Times notes that celebrities who drive Hummers (in either the H1 or H2 variations) can usually be categorized as new money, whereas Prius owners tend to be more firmly entrenched in the Hollywood establishment.
But is it as easy as that? In this automotive version of the "Whose breasts are real" game, see if you can distinguish the eco-friendly hybrid owners from the road-hogging Hummer drivers.
See article and quiz here
AND this:
GALLO BLASTS 'GOOD WILL' OF CELEBRITIES
Controversial actor VINCENT GALLO has launched a bitter assault on stars who chose to arrive at last month's (29FEB04) OSCARS in environmentally-friendly cars - claiming their worldly concerns are fake.
The BUFFALO '66 star is angry stars like TIM ROBBINS, SUSAN SARANDON, STING and ROBIN WILLIAMS turned up to the glitzy event in eco-friendly TOYOTA PRIUS cars, because they all use polluting modes of transport without guilt outside the public spotlight.
He tells New York website PAGE SIX, "I went to the Oscars this year and there were groups of actors showing up in these hybrid vehicles.
"Not one of these clowns has been on a private plane less than 25 times. It's one of the great radical cliches of good will that they have in Hollywood. They want to feel good about something."
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.ns...33;opendocument
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What do they drive?
Celebrities are now divided into two camps: those who drive gas-guzzling Hummers and those sensitive souls who drive Earth-friendly hybrids. But who's who might surprise you
Samantha Grice
National Post
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Nowhere is what you drive as important as it is in image-obsessed Hollywood. Of course, a celebrity can always take the safe route and display their wealth via the relatively benign Lexus or limousine, but those cars don't always say quite enough.
These days, a star's choice of vehicle speaks volumes not only about their placement in the Hollywood machine but of their politics, rank in the star system and age.
The current manifestation of the you-are-what-you-drive debate comes in the Hummer-hybrid divide, as detailed in last Sunday's New York Times.
A growing legion of environmentally friendly and often sanctimonious celebrities have adopted gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius as their ecological cause du jour and are pressuring their ostentatious SUV-driving colleagues to trade in their gas guzzlers. Hummers, which until the last decade were exclusively used by military personnel, are among the least fuel-efficient cars on the road, getting an average of 13 miles to the gallon as compared to the Prius's 50 plus.
As the eloquent Jack Black succinctly put it in a recent off-the-cuff remark at the Prius-packed Academy Awards: "If you didn't come to the Oscars in a hybrid, you're a jerk."
The Times notes that celebrities who drive Hummers (in either the H1 or H2 variations) can usually be categorized as new money, whereas Prius owners tend to be more firmly entrenched in the Hollywood establishment.
But is it as easy as that? In this automotive version of the "Whose breasts are real" game, see if you can distinguish the eco-friendly hybrid owners from the road-hogging Hummer drivers.
See article and quiz here
AND this:
GALLO BLASTS 'GOOD WILL' OF CELEBRITIES
Controversial actor VINCENT GALLO has launched a bitter assault on stars who chose to arrive at last month's (29FEB04) OSCARS in environmentally-friendly cars - claiming their worldly concerns are fake.
The BUFFALO '66 star is angry stars like TIM ROBBINS, SUSAN SARANDON, STING and ROBIN WILLIAMS turned up to the glitzy event in eco-friendly TOYOTA PRIUS cars, because they all use polluting modes of transport without guilt outside the public spotlight.
He tells New York website PAGE SIX, "I went to the Oscars this year and there were groups of actors showing up in these hybrid vehicles.
"Not one of these clowns has been on a private plane less than 25 times. It's one of the great radical cliches of good will that they have in Hollywood. They want to feel good about something."
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.ns...33;opendocument
