Usually, automakers want to associate themselves with winning, whether it’s in racing, sales numbers or even corporate partnerships. It seems Honda missed this memo, though, and that’s why the company has hooked up with the New York freaking Jets as an official partner.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a massive Jets fan. I was there for the back-to-back AFC Championship blunders, the butt-fumble, Tim Tebow and Aaron Rodgers’ leg exploding in the first gave of his Jets career. I didn’t have a choice, though. My father made me a Jets fan. Honda did have a choice. It could have partnered with any of the more winning franchises and teams in sports. Instead, it decided the New York Jets were a worthy collaborator. You can imagine the shock and horror I experienced when I came upon this Honda Ridgeline with a Jets livery at the New York International Auto Show. What a mistake.
The wrong kind of Honda Jet
The Jets might just be one of the saddest franchises in all of North American sports — missing the playoffs every single year since 2010, all while being embarrassing in just about every facet of the game since then. Yet, for some godforsaken reason, Honda decided that this was the team’s logo it needed to plaster all over an unsuspecting Ridgeline. That truck probably had dreams when it rolled off the assembly line. Instead, it’s saddled with a miserable dark green wrap with Jets football logos all over it.
Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik
No car deserves that, not even the ones I dislike. At the very least, the interior of the Ridgeline was left pretty much intact, so you can drive around in your Jets Ridgeline and hopefully forget how your car is decorated.
In all honesty, no one deserves to be a Jets fan. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. It’s a fate worse than death in many ways because at least death can be quick. The Jets will drag you down with them to depths you didn’t realize you could reach. Now, the Honda Ridgeline has that same association. You hate to see it.