History Main / HummerDinger

* [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] in WebAnimation/SonicZombie has a Hummer which, for reasons other than the obvious [[SuperSpeed "he's Sonic"]], he doesn't need.

** The episode "Hell Comes to Quahog" features Peter buying Meg a literal ''{{tank|Goodness}}'' as her first car. It gets impounded after Peter accidentally runs Joe over while teaching Meg how to drive. [[spoiler:Stewie and Brian later use the tank to destroy the PredatoryBusiness that's wrecking the town's economy.]] A CutawayGag also has a man driving a Hummer H2 causing chaos on the highway while watching ''WesternAnimation/Madagascar1'' on its entertainment system, while [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror thanking Donald Rumsfeld for the cheap gas]].

* In the ''Website/CollegeHumor'' sketch "If the Other Party Wins," the scenario that would happen (according to Democrats) if the Republicans won the Presidential election includes a little girl who is taken to school in a Hummer instead of a school bus (because of looser [[GreenAesop environmental laws and regulations]]). She mentions that she missed the Hummer that morning.

** A second example is a parody of MTV's Cribs with Film/RichieRich, in which he shows off his hybrid: Half-limousine, half-monster-truck! It drives about ten feet before emptying its fuel tank.

See also RiceBurner (smaller cars with useless enhancements) and AbsurdlyLongLimousine, both of which reflect equally poorly on the owner. If you combine any of them with a Hummer Dinger, well, God help you.[[note]]Do an internet search for "Stretch Hummer Limo". Just do it.[[/note]]

* On ''Traders'' one of the investment banker characters lands a huge deal and gets a promotion and a big raise. Showing off, he buys a Hummer and drives it to work the next day. SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs and he cannot find parking for such a big vehicle in downtown Toronto. This causes him to be late for work and miss a key meeting with an important client. He loses his promotion and raise and barely avoids getting fired. He promptly returns the Hummer to the dealership.

* A tiny woman in {{Suburbia}} wanting to feel "safe", who uses it for [[MundaneUtility mundane applications]] like hauling groceries or shuttling her kids to soccer practice; the woman often tends to be an ObnoxiousEntitledHousewife. When said kids grow up and start learning to drive, they'll learn on the Hummer Dinger, and they'll either struggle to control it or go DrunkWithPower and [[CarMeetsHouse end up depositing it into a building]].

* [[EccentricMillionaire Eccentric Billionaire]] Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan (also known as the "Rainbow Sheikh"), part of [[UsefulNotes/{{Dubai}} the UAE's]] royal family , and a noted lover of motor vehicles and ''extremely'' ConspicuousConsumption, seemingly felt that the Hummer H1 wasn't anywhere big enough. So he built the Hummer X3, so called because it's ''[[ExaggeratedTrope three times the size]]'' of the original Hummer Dinger, on a 100-ton military vehicle chassis. Such a vehicle is [[AwesomeButImpractical more for show than anything else]], with its top speed of 19mph.

* Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan (also known as the "Rainbow Sheikh"), part of [[UsefulNotes/{{Dubai}} the UAE's]] royal family , and a noted lover of motor vehicles and ''extremely'' ConspicuousConsumption, seemingly felt that the Hummer H1 wasn't anywhere big enough. So he built the Hummer X3, so called because it's ''[[ExaggeratedTrope three times the size]]'' of the original Hummer Dinger, on a 100-ton military vehicle chassis. Such a vehicle is [[AwesomeButImpractical more for show than anything else]], with its top speed of 19mph.

* Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan (also known as the "Rainbow Sheikh"), part of [[UsefulNotes/{{Dubai}} the UAE's]] royal family , and a noted lover of motor vehicles and ''extremely'' ConspiciousConsumption, seemingly felt that the Hummer H1 wasn't anywhere big enough. So he built the Hummer X3, so called because it's ''[[ExaggeratedTrope three times the size]]'' of the original Hummer Dinger, on a 100-ton military vehicle chassis. Such a vehicle is [[AwesomeButImpractical more for show than anything else]], with its top speed of 19mph.

* A man [[MidlifeCrisisCar in a midlife crisis]] who's CompensatingForSomething. Instead of the high-performance sports car, he went [[RatedMForManly even manlier]] and got one of ''these''. Expect him to find out the hard way that he can't park it anywhere.

* A celebrity looking to [[ConspicuousConsumption flaunt his wealth]], usually someone who wants to be seen as [[RatedMForManly exceedingly masculine]] like an [[JerkJock arrogant pro athlete]], an [[TheAhnold action movie star]], or a [[GlamRap rap musician]]. They'll usually turn it into a PimpedOutCar in the process.

-> '''Homer:''' What kind of mileage does it get?\\

This is considered an [[{{Eagleland}} American trope]], since most other countries don't have such pervasive suburbs. Where population density is higher and streets are narrower (especially someplace like Japan or Europe), a Hummer Dinger would be seen as ''obscenely'' impractical. But there are equivalents in other places, like the British "Chelsea Tractor" (usually a Range Rover or alternatively, in recent years, a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon), the Australian "Toorak Tractor" (named after a wealthy UsefulNotes/{{Melbourne}} suburb), and the Brazilian "luxury pickup", which is actually a pickup truck but achieves the same effect down there.

The actual Hummer brand was a BrieferThanTheyThink phenomenon of the mid-2000s. By the late 2000s and early 2010s, twin energy and economic crises led to such big cars falling out in favor of more energy efficient cars, particularly once hybrids and electric cars became a thing. The Hummer brand ended up as a casualty of the Great Recession, meeting its temporary demise in 2009, and when General Motors [[ContinuityReboot rebooted it in 2020]] they made it electric. That said, once enough time had passed, the idea of an oversized "off-road" mall crawler made a comeback in the late '10s in the form of luxury pickup trucks. The [[Analysis/HummerDinger Analysis page]] goes into more detail on the phenomenon.

* [[https://www.youtu.be/tN1TBWjm4JY A PSA]] was once made comparing these giant [=SUV=]s to wild animals to educate owners of said vehicles to be careful when driving them.

[[folder:Comic Books ]]

* A pimped-out Hummer makes an appearance at "Sarge's SUV Boot Camp" at the end of ''WesternAnimation/Cars1''. When ordered to drop and give Sarge twenty (miles), he complains about dirt getting in his rims, making it obvious that he's never been off road.

* ''Film/WhoKilledTheElectricCar'': In a documentary about the ill-fated [=EV1=], the TropeNamer is a rather [[AcceptableTargets obvious suspect]], since GM was more interested in building gas-guzzlers like the Hummer than vehicles with low-emissions. What was more glaring was how the US government was giving business owners ''tens of thousands of dollars'' in tax deductions to people who were buying a Hummer, while giving people who bought a clean car only a few thousand[[note]] Though one shouldn't discount the teething problems GM was having with the [=EV1=], chief among them heavy, inefficient batteries, low range and poor performance, and lack of trained technicians. On the other hand, that didn't exactly warrant issuing a full recall, banning them from driving, and destroying every car they could get their hands on.[[/note]].

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

* In ''Literature/ClearAndPresentDanger'', one of the Columbian drug lords drives a monster truck. It's actually a practical purchase for him, because one of his fellow cartel chieftains lives on a mountaintop villa with terrible road access, and the truck is just about the only vehicle short of a helicopter capable of safely getting up there. Clark uses it to cover the true nature of the first RECIPROCITY attack: since you really could hide half a ton of military grade explosives in that truck without noticeably impacting the handling, it provides an excellent cover for the laser-guided bomb that gets dropped on it.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

* Done in ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' when Daniel Warmold, a rookie drug dealer, gets in way over his head and uses his new drug money to buy a pimped-out yellow Hummer with red flames on the side, spinning rims and a VanityLicensePlate "PLAYUH". Naturally, Nacho Varga chooses to rip him off as a result, stealing Daniel's money and baseball cards. Because Daniel goes to the police about the cards, Mike is forced to broker a deal with Nacho to keep themselves from getting caught, wherein Nacho gets Daniel's Hummer in exchange for returning the baseball cards. Upon receiving the car, Nacho announces his immediate intentions to destroy the car for parts:
-->'''Nacho:''' You think I'd be caught dead driving that thing? It looks like a school bus for six year old pimps.

* Occurs in season eleven of ''Series/TrailerParkBoys''. Between seasons, Julian bought a lifted Jeep Wrangler four door, which Bubbles calls a "Franchise/GIJoe car". Ricky later has a brake failure while driving to the junkyard and hits a lifted heavy-duty Dodge Ram, complete with transport truck-like smoke stacks in place of a regular exhaust. Bubbles calls it a "hobbit truck", since the drivers are usually [[CompensatingForSomething rather short]]. Sure enough, two very short men get out to assess the damage (Ricky's car is virtually undamaged, but theirs has a large dent in the rear fender).

[[folder:{{Music}}]]

No I'll never trade my Escalade! God bless my SUV!

[[folder:NewspaperComics]]

[[folder:StandUpComedy]]
* Creator/JeffDunham has a bit in ''Spark of Insanity'' about his family having two cars: A Hummer H1 and on the other end of the spectrum: A powder blue Prius. He keeps the Hummer to maintain his sense of masculinity, but stopped driving it after it cost well over $100 to fill it up.

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* Averted for some reason in the MMO ''Drift City''. Early on in the storyline, you're given a mission to drive an SUV around a long winding, hilly section of road spanning around the perimeter of the starting city. The game claims that [=SUV=]s are better for climbing up the steep hills because they have more power. Truth is, any car can drive up a hill just as easily as any SUV due to the game's mechanics. [=SUV=]s themselves generally have a higher "Toughness" stat, which has a small impact (no pun intended) on how much damage you do to enemies when you collide into them. How often you need to refuel your car depends on the tier of the car your driving, not the type, which means that [=SUV=]s last just as long as every other car in the same tier, only they don't drive nearly as fast. Also, all the cars in the game have their SerialNumbersFiledOff, unless they're from the Chrysler corporation or its subsidiaries Dodge and Jeep. For example, the "Comet" is a Mitsubishi Eclipse under a fictional name. One of the end-game [=SUV=]s is based off the Hummer H3, and actually is one of the most powerful vehicles in the game, even able to compete with other end-game cars.

** Zig-zagged with the {{Patriot|icFervor}} in the ''IV''-era games, which is specifically based on the Hummer [=H2=]. On one hand, the ''civilian'' version fits this trope perfectly, with a low speed, a large turning circle and a propensity for rolling over. However, [[LightningBruiser a faster, more agile version]] is used by [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction NOOSE]], the game's resident StateSec, and is a prime choice for one to use in the [[EmergencyServices Vigilante]] [[{{Sidequest}} missions]] due to its speed, mobility and resilience.
*** It's subverted even harder in the ''III''-era games, where it was based on the Humvee (the military vehicle which Hummer is based of). Therefore, it was primarily used as a military vehicle, and even the civilian version featured in ''Videogame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' was one of the best off-road vehicles in the game.
** Lampshaded in ''IV'', which has a "Player Image" stat which summarizes the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin player's image]] based on the vehicles he rides around in the most. Having any of the game's four-wheel-drive SUV's as your favorite car will grant you the title of "Soccer Mom".

* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Mercenaries}} Mercenaries II: World In Flames]]'', a mechanic mentions a new ''enormous'' monster of an engine she's working on. It has unbelievably fast acceleration and speed... Unfortunately it eats up ''200 gallons per mile''.

* Averted with the SUV's in ''VideoGame/TestDrive Unlimited 2'' where their whole purpose is for off-road racing that the Classic or Asphalt classes struggle to grip dirt roads. Although via wrecks, you can find dedicated off-roaders such as a V8 buggy or a Lancia Stratos rally car.

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

* [[https://www.youtu.be/Vdv3RFSDA68 In his review of the car]], Doug [=DeMuro=] argues that the 1998 Lincoln Navigator is the TropeCodifier. While SUV's aimed at the luxury market certainly existed before then, with the Jeep Grand Wagoneer acting as the TropeMaker, and the Range Rover and Lexus LX serving as other examples from the 1990's, all of those vehicles were still sold as off-roaders first, with the luxurious traits coming secondary. The Lincoln Navigator was the first car that made zero pretensions about its off-roading ability, and instead directly marketed itself as a suburb crawler for large families. Its success caused other companies to FollowTheLeader in its wake, and even later iterations of the Range Rover and Lexus LX would evolve to become pure luxury vehicles.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* Stan's big black SUV from ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''. One episode from 2010 even parodied the changing car market. Francine is telling the family to cut back on expenses because the economy has caused the family to lose all its savings in the market. Roger tells Francine that Stan spends over $400 a day fueling his SUV, and so Francine demands that Stan trade it in for a hybrid. Stan refuses because he's [[CompensatingForSomething "A big man who needs a big SUV so everyone will know how big he is"]]. The rest of the episode focuses on Stan trying to come up with the money to keep his SUV, only to end up deeper and deeper in debt.
* The second ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' episode with Desiree has Danny and Tucker drooling over giant Hummer-esque [=SUV=]s. [[SoapboxSadie Sam]] talks about how bad for the environment they are, and tries to egg Danny into destroying them. He denies her on the grounds that he's a hero, but Desiree hears the wish and turns them into literal monster trucks. Meanwhile, Tucker is completely enamored by the vehicle's [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny big shiny rims.]]

* Happens twice in ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken''.

** The episodes "The Last Temptation of Krust" and "Marge Simpson in: 'Screaming Yellow Honkers'" feature the Canyonero, an SUV so big, powerful, and important that it can't let its commercial be cut short, to the point that it literally pushes the Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox logo out of the way and burns through an American flag. It also has a reputation for unexplained fires, which are a matter for the courts. It provides the page image, and the truck's commercial jingle makes up the image caption. The latter episode centers around Homer purchasing one, but when he finds that his is an "F-series" model, which means that it's female-oriented (it has a lipstick holder built-in instead of a lighter), he proceeds to give it to Marge, which causes her to develop some serious [[DrivesLikeCrazy road rage]]. It's Marge's car in ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun''. (Note that "twelve yards long, two lanes wide" makes it larger than the biggest functional tank ever constructed.)

** The episode "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" has the Homer, a ridiculously garish, overpriced monstrosity built to Homer's... ''unique'' specifications, which winds up bankrupting his brother Herb's auto company. It's a parody of both this trope and of the Edsel, a notorious flop of an automobile from the late '50s.
** Another episode has Homer and Marge getting stuck behind several [=SUV=]s, but fortunately, there's a gentle curve up ahead, which causes all of them to roll off the road in flames.

* The ''[[https://www.apocalypse6x6.com/ Apocalypse 6x6]]'' is a line of absurdly expensive custom built giant trucks that barely makes a claim of going off-road, instead focusing on the racing-grade horsepower under the hood, built as visual derivatives of regular trucks such as Jeep Wranglers, Dodge Rams or Ford Broncos.

This is considered an [[{{Eagleland}} American trope]]; most other countries don't have such pervasive suburbs. Where population density is higher and streets are narrower (especially someplace like Japan or Europe), a Hummer Dinger would be seen as ''obscenely'' impractical. But there are equivalents in other places, like the British "Chelsea Tractor" (usually a Range Rover or alternatively, in recent years, a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon), the Australian "Toorak Tractor" (named after a wealthy UsefulNotes/{{Melbourne}} suburb), and the Brazilian "luxury pickup", which is actually a pickup truck but achieves the same effect down there.

It's also largely a DiscreditedTrope. The Hummer was a BrieferThanTheyThink phenomenon of the mid-2000s; by the late 2000s and early 2010s, twin energy and economic crises led to such big cars falling out in favor of more energy efficient cars, particularly once hybrids and electric cars became a thing. The Hummer brand ended up as a casualty of the Great Recession, meeting its temporary demise in 2009, and when General Motors [[ContinuityReboot rebooted it in 2020]] they made it electric. There's [[Analysis/HummerDinger a whole analysis page]] on the phenomenon.

** The episode "Hell Comes to Quahog" features Peter buying Meg a literal ''{{tank|Goodness}}'' as her first car. It gets impounded after Peter accidentally runs Joe over while teaching Meg how to drive. [[spoiler:Stewie and Brian later use the tank to destroy the PredatoryBusiness that's wrecking the town's economy.]] A CutawayGag also has a man driving a Hummer H2 causing chaos on the highway while watching ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'' on its entertainment system, while [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror thanking Donald Rumsfeld for the cheap gas]].

* A pimped out Hummer makes an appearance at "Sarge's SUV Boot Camp" at the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}''. When ordered to drop and give Sarge twenty (miles), he complains of dirt getting in his rims, making it obvious that he's never been off road.

* "[[https://www.youtu.be/1RSvnS8unoE La Suburban Dorada]]" by Los Huracanes del Norte is a Mexican narco-folk song about two cartel goons running a drug delivery on an armored, tuned, golden Chevrolet Suburban. The first half of the song talks entirely about the Suburban; the second half talks about the job going awry at a police checkpoint.

** Thomas Raith, RichIdiotWithNoDayJob extraordinaire (well, he does have a day job at this point, but it's at an upscale hair salon so it doesn't count) gets a monstrous white Hummer in ''Literature/SmallFavor'' which Harry [[PersonOfMassDestruction promptly half-wrecks]]. Harry's slightly put out that it's not the military model with bulletproof windows when people start shooting at him, although he does admit that heated leather seats are ''very'' comfortable.