(October 13, 2010) Subaru is on an incredible winning streak selling vehicles at a record clip in North America. Subaru sales are up 22 percent for the first nine months of the year and the Japanese company has show month-over-month increases every month in 2010.

Now the Subaru folks — or Subaru's ad agency — have created an hilarious ad.

Poking fun at bland, middle-of-the-road cars, Subaru has launched a web site selling an all-new car, the "2011 Mediocrity."

It's a laugh riot.

At the site, buyers can build their own "boring sedan" that comes in three flavors — base, convenience and power. The available exterior color is medium crumb and the interior color is brown gravel. Accessories include a floor mat, windshield, hubcap, green plant, odometer, wicker chair and cushioned seat.

The 2011 Mediocrity

The Mediocrity mission statement says: "each and every day we strive for predictability, unoriginality and no-frills utilitarianism for all of your transportation needs. The 2011 Mediocrity will get you from A to B without anybody ever noticing, and that's a good thing."

Under "specifications" there are such statistics as wheelbase — adequate; overall length — end-to-end; and seating capacity —the usual. And then there are videos of a happy mediocre family, designers who had just one idea and felt it was good enough, and quotes from "auto magazines."

There's even a social networking page. And the really astounding thing is that some people are taking the site seriously. One guy wrote on Facebook: "I Honestly Thought This Whole Mediocrity Car Was A Complete JOKE... Sorry But It's HORRID!.. I Guess the Objective Was To Make A Vehicle With Only The Basic Needs, Simple.. But Its Just.. UGLY... & then The Price Made me LMFAO!"

So how does Subaru get the word out about Subaru vehicles? Each page has a large orange link button that says "Click Here to Build a Better Car" or "Click Here to Find Something Better." The clicks take you to a Subaru video and home page.

To us this is some of the most unique advertising in recent times. It's funny and it's effective.

Subaru's winning streak continues.

(Click here to get a dose of MEDIOCRITY)

— Jim Meachen