We take that right for granted. The nation's history is built on the concept that a person can get up and go wherever he or she wants. That belief fueled the westward movement on this continent, and that same desire to go is embraced by every generation of teen-agers. When a teen-ager sees a car, that means freedom, Withuhn said. Also, Unrestricted physical mobility is a metaphor for social mobility.
Advertisers work that psychic territory when selling cars on television.
Status as well as mobility is what they market. The commercials never depict vehicles stuck in traffic on the Capital Beltway or anywhere else, however. The shiny, swift vehicles are almost always shown against a backdrop of natural splendor. Ironically, new roads often wreck local landscapes. Pardon the digression.