History Main / HummerDinger

%%ZCE * ''WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge'' had the antagonist driving around in one, while simultaneously talking on her cell phone and drinking coffee. As RJ explains when he introduces the forest animals to suburbia, "Humans ride in them because they are slowly losing their ability to walk."

* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge'' had the antagonist driving around in one, while simultaneously talking on her cell phone and drinking coffee. As RJ explains when he introduces the forest animals to suburbia, "Humans ride in them because they are slowly losing their ability to walk."

* The ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' games have a giant diesel pickup truck called the {{Compensat|ingForSomething}}or. It's got sluggish acceleration and steering, a low top speed, and the durability of soggy toast. A Hummer H1 Alpha expy called the Bulldog appears in ''Saints Row 2'' and ''The Third'' and is mostly drive in wealthy suburbia, though it is a very effective vehicle because of its durability.

* ''VideoGame/GhostReconWildlands'' averts this trope with its SUV's, including the Escalade ESV/EXT and Hummer H1 expies, which handle reasonably well both on and off road.

* One half of the TropeNamer is a website (now dead) formerly run by the Sierra Club called "Hummer Dinger" that criticized these vehicles. It specifically focused on the Hummer [=H2=] (the other half of the trope namer), which it saw as the most JustForFun/{{egregious}} real-life example of this trope.

* The ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' games have a giant diesel pickup truck called the {{Compensat|ingForSomething}}or. A Hummer H1 Alpha expy called the Bulldog appears in ''Saints Row 2'' and ''The Third'' and is mostly drive in wealthy suburbia, though it is a very effective vehicle because of its durability.

* In ''Film/{{Krampus}}'', Uncle Howard drives a Hummer that [[ICallItVera he's named Lucinda]]. It is so big that the house rattles as he pulls into the driveway, highlighting his and his family's ConspicuousConsumption and letting the Engels know that they have arrived for Christmas dinner well before they ring the doorbell. We later see that Howard has installed a gun rack in the tailgate.

:::One of Bravado's ads markets the Bison pickup truck, which has 6,000 horsepower and gets fuel economy of 3 MPG in the city and 5 on the highway. The ad is filled with [[TestosteronePoisoning macho posturing]] and PatrioticFervor saying that the Bison is the truck of TheWildWest. The Bison is player-drivable, but as expected, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation it's far from being the titan that its ads make it out to be]], with an engine power somewhere around the 300-400 hp.

* In the rather silly FMV game ''Corpse Killer'', your stereotypical Jamaican sidekick repeatedly informs you of his desire to buy a Hummer. One sidequest has the two of you looking for pirate treasure so he can buy one.

This became a DiscreditedTrope in the late '00s, for much the same reason that the flashy land-yacht sedans of the '50s and '60s (which this can be seen as the SpiritualSuccessor to) mostly vanished in TheSeventies. The one-two punch of the gas crisis and economic crisis in the late 2000s and early 2010s hit the SUV market hard, even in the United States. Even the TropeNamer Hummer brand was shut down in 2009. While gas prices later came down and the economy recovered somewhat, the new generation of "crossover utility vehicles" that emerged in the '10s were often far more fuel-efficient than the dreadnought [=SUVs=] of the '90s and '00s, with many coming within striking range of the fuel economy of regular cars (not a surprise, as many crossovers are essentially station wagons and hatchbacks with lifted suspensions and optional all-wheel drive). However, between the GrandfatherClause and the fact that the Hummer is still one of the most famous RealLife examples of this trope, Hummer Dinger will keep its old name unless the site decides otherwise.

-->-- '''''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'''''

* The ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' 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 [[TheWarOnTerror thanking Donald Rumsfeld for the cheap gas]].

* Bowser's car in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' manages to be this despite being a ''one-man convertible'', because Bowser himself is so big and because the car is weaponized.

In Australia, the term "Toorak tractor" is preferred, referring to the wealthy UsefulNotes/{{Melbourne}} suburb of Toorak. A Brazilian equivalent is the luxury pickup truck, which has the same drawbacks of the Anglo-American SUV on a slightly different package.[[note]]Luxury pickup trucks have been attempted in the US, to mixed success. The ones from actual luxury brands have either flopped (the Lincoln Blackwood, the Lincoln Mark LT to a lesser extent) or just been there (the Cadillac Escalade EXT), while more success comes from fully-loaded variants of "normal" pickups like the Ford F-150, the Ram 1500, the Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra, and the Toyota Tundra, often with trim names that evoke either traditional luxury cars like "Limited" and "Platinum" or a rugged "rich Texan" image like "Lariat", "High Country", "Denali", or "1794 Edition" (an homage to the Texas ranch, first opened in 1794, where Toyota built the Tundra's factory). Most full-size pickups with more than the absolute bare minimum in options carry higher price tags than many luxury cars to begin with.[[/note]]

** The episodes "The Last Temptation of Krust" and "Marge Simpson in: 'Screaming Yellow Honkers'" feature the Canyonero. 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.)
--->'''Lyrics:''' Can you name the truck with four wheel drive, smells like a steak and seats thirty-five. Canyonero!

* 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.]]

* ''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. The car was cool, but it may have been just a little ahead of it's time. GM had more success with it's SpiritualSuccessor, the Volt[[/note]].

A gigantic sport-utility vehicle, built under the philosophy that BiggerIsBetter, basically making it the SpiritualSuccessor to [[TheFifties 1950s]] cars with giant tail-fins. Smaller cars, or at least their drivers, tremble in fear as this [[Series/BetterCallSaul school bus for six year old pimps]] passes on the highway--or maybe it's because the road itself is shaking under its weight. The name will be something bold, authoritative and often referring to power, traveling and the rugged wilderness, like "Inquisitor", "Navigator" or "Kilimanjaro". [[CrazyPrepared It's filled with all sorts of equipment to help it tow trailers, climb mountains, and get through the rain, snow, sleet, hail, mud, and whatever else Mother Nature can throw at it...]]

...very little of which will see any use. 90% of the people who buy these behemoths deploy them in {{suburbia}}, shuttling tots to soccer games and groceries back to the house. Fuel economy will be laughable. The driver will be a very tiny woman wanting to feel "safe," [[MidlifeCrisisCar a man in his midlife crisis]] CompensatingForSomething, a [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Mexican]] [[TheCartel cartel boss]] looking for something intimidating that can comfortably seat all his goons and stow their ordnance too, or a celebrity using it to [[ConspicuousConsumption flaunt his wealth]] (pro athletes, [[GlamRap rap musicians]], and [[TheAhnold action movie stars]] are the most common), in which case it will likely also be a PimpedOutCar. When it comes time for Junior to get his own license, expect the kid to either tremble at the thought of steering this tank around or go mad with power through several subdivisions and ultimately ditch his Monsterrat in someone's backyard pool.

Quickly becoming a DiscreditedTrope, as the one-two punch of the gas crisis and economic crisis in the late 2000s and early 2010s hit the SUV market hard, even in the United States. Even the TropeNamer Hummer brand was shut down in 2009. While gas prices later came down and the economy recovered somewhat, the new generation of "crossover utility vehicles" that emerged in the '10s were often far more fuel-efficient than the dreadnought [=SUVs=] of the '90s and '00s, with many coming within striking range of the fuel economy of regular cars (not a surprise, as many crossovers are essentially station wagons and hatchbacks with lifted suspensions and optional all-wheel drive). However, between the GrandfatherClause and the fact that the Hummer is still one of the most famous RealLife examples of this trope, Hummer Dinger will keep its old name until the site decides otherwise.

The rough British equivalent of this trope is the "Chelsea tractor", which refers to huge [=4x4s=] (aka [=SUV=]s in America) that never leave the city and are owned by people who don't need the offroad capabilities. Among the vehicles stereotypically associated with this trope are Land Rovers (especially Range Rovers), Porsche Cayennes, BMW [=X5s=], and other [=4x4s=] of that ilk, luxury vehicles that, while smaller than the typical American example, make up for it with their focus on flashiness. Such people are often stereotyped as arrogant and [[CompensatingForSomething insecure]]. Since these cars are seen as embodying the worst aspects of ConspicuousConsumption, they fall under the AcceptableTargets banner.

In Australia, the term "Toorak tractor" is preferred, referring to the wealthy suburb of Toorak, Melbourne. A Brazilian equivalent is the luxury pickup truck, which has the same drawbacks of the Anglo-American SUV on a slightly different package (luxury pickup trucks have been attempted in the US, to mixed success; the ones from actual luxury brands-- Cadillac and Lincoln-- have either flopped (Blackwood, Mark LT to a lesser extent), or just been there (Escalade EXT); more success comes from fully-loaded variants of "normal" pickups like Titanium-trim level [=F150=]s, and most full-size pickups with more than the absolute bare minimum in options carry higher price tags than many luxury cars to begin with).

The rough equivalent for smaller cars is the RiceBurner, though some have tried to combine the two into an unholy example of money to burn. In the '00s, luxury [=SUVs=] were often fitted with gigantic rims (or "dubs", after the DUB Wheels company that was famous for them), scissor doors, hydraulics, earth-rattling stereo systems, and other modifications to make them that much flashier. Today, a more direct example exists with so-called [[http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/psa-bro-truck-vs-off-road-truck-1467061508 "bro trucks,"]] (also called "mall crawlers" by actual off-roaders) which have all manner of modifications (particularly lift kits and large wheels) to make them look like off-road vehicles, with little consideration for whether they actually improve off-road performance, as well as coal rolling[[note]]modding a diesel engine with a bypass device and the removal of the particulate filter to allow for it to be flooded, which belches thick clouds of dark smoke out of the exhaust[[/note]] if they want to show the world that they're willing to spend thousands of dollars on mods that literally serve no purpose other than to demonstrate that you're an asshole. Most often, they will never leave the suburbs.

* ''Series/TopGear'' frequently invokes this when talking about [=SUV=]s, especially ones like the [=BMW X5=] and the Range Rover. Oddly enough, Jeremy Clarkson actually ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1by7Ud-COc enjoyed]]'' the huge and unwieldy Hummer H2 for its charm, claiming that driving it made him feel like a seven-year-old boy and defending his love of it to Richard Hammond and James May, despite hating the H1 which is more capable off-road.

** The Canyonero is so big, powerful, and important, it can't let its commercial be cut short, to the point it literally pushes the 20th Century Fox logo out of the way and [[RefugeInAudacity burn through an American flag]].

* ''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.

* Parodied multiple times on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''

* ''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 clean, low-emission. 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 dollars in tax deductions.

* The ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' tie-in comic ''The Arrival'' gives us the Bulkhead in Issue 4. It is an [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier APC]] with bad fuel economy, several issues that put it into the category of TheAllegedCar, and used the [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Autobots' resident Big Guy's name without his approval]] because [[ArtisticLicenseLaw he didn't have a copyright on his likeness]].

'''RJ:''' Usually? Just one.

** The Canyonero is so big, powerful, and important, it can't let its commercial be cut short, to the point it literally pushes the 20th Century Fox logo out of the way.
*** It also can burn through an American flag.

* The Treer Saltair in ''Film/SouthlandTales''. One [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P37CBLDHMgo (in)famous scene]] featured two of these vehicles [[UnusualEuphemism conjoining]].

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'': Frasier's neighbor and SitcomArchNemesis Cam Winston drives a Hummer, and considering that he's a condo-dwelling CampStraight stuffed shirt like Frasier, the Hummer has likely never so much as touched a surface that isn't paved. The vehicle irritates Frasier to no end since Cam's parking space is right next to his and takes up so much space that Frasier has to crawl out the passenger side of his BMW. Frasier has even suggested that Cam is CompensatingForSomething.

* Series/{{Frasier}}: Frasier's neighbor and SitcomArchNemesis Cam Winston drives a Hummer, and considering that he's a condo-dwelling CampStraight stuffed shirt like Frasier, the Hummer has likely never so much as touched a surface that isn't paved. The vehicle irritates Frasier to no end since Cam's parking space is right next to his and takes up so much space that Frasier has to crawl out the passenger side of his BMW. Frasier has even suggested that Cam is CompensatingForSomething.