A reference to the Jeep brand being “crap” was spotted on The Technology Review today (via Coudal’s Fresh Signals).

According to Mark Rolston, Vice President of Creative at Frog Design:

“Amazon is iconic, but not necessarily good design. A Jeep is iconic, but if you’ve ever ridden in a Jeep, it’s crap.”

Sorry, but Mark just doesn’t get it.

He recognizes that the look, feel, and design of a Jeep is iconic, but fails to see those traits are only responsible for a fraction of its status. The Jeep has become an icon because you aren’t just buying a steel tub with removable doors, you are buying into an experience, an adventure, a lifestyle.

Now, the average Joe never says to himself, “Gosh, I wish I could take the doors off my BMW 750i”. But ask the next fella you see in a Jeep what summer means, and “top down, doors off” is going to rate very high on that list.

So, when you look at the task at hand, in this case, off roading, mudding, riding doorless, etc, a Jeep becomes less “crap” and more “designed appropriately”. Assuming the same needs, I could say Joe’s 750i is crap, since I can’t remove the doors and drive through 6 inches of mud, but I won’t make the same mistake as our friend Mark Rolston. No, I’ll try to look past the test-drive period, I’ll drive a vehicle the way it wants to be driven, on the right surface, doors on or off as specified by the manufactorer. If it doesn’t suit me, I’ll point that out, but I won’t call it crap.

Unless of course the ride is a 1988 Toyota Supra, with a four foot spoiler and chrome spinners. Now that’s just crap.