They would NEVER have a chance of selling a "real" pickup truck to the hairy chested pickup crowd so why bother?
I disagree. Toyota and Nissan do a good job, why can't Honda? All they have to do is make a REAL truck. That means a real frame, real suspension, etc. I'd certainly consider a Honda pickup or SUV if they made one with truck underpinnings and not that of a minivan.
I don't think anyone would have a problem with the Ridgeline if they advertised it showing it being used the way you say it's intended to be used. However, the ads I've seen show it offroad in situations it'll never see in real life. It's the same with the Pilot. They advertise it as a hairy chested offroad machine, but having driven one, I'd wager you'd get it stuck the first time you got into deep mud or sand. That said, it's a very nice vehicle (my friends have one and I've drive it several times), but not an offroad machine.
There's nothing silly about the S2000 (or any of their cars for that matter). If I didn't have a kid and/or had room for a third vehicle, I'd like to have one. Of course, I could just park it in my front yard, but that would make El T sad.
Chris
I think the difference with Toyota is that people have used their Land Crusiers, Hi-Luxes, etc. all over the world in insane conditions. Honda does have that fuel-efficient, reliable, technological, and even soccermommy image, which doesn't mesh well with the people that Mike talks about IMO. And I don't know a single person who owns a Nissan Titan. They could be popular, but I'm just not aware of it.
You do have a good point about the advertising, but I think there is something to be said for escapism. Like in any S2000 literature, they don't show a guy wearing a suit and tie in 90 degree weather, with the top down, sweating his ass off, and trying to drown out the 50 Cent coming at 145dB from the Cavalier next to him while stuck in construction traffic.
<---a.k.a. "Last Wednesday in Dan's Life"
I was just being facetious about the S2K being silly, I LOVE that car. It is one of the best all-around sports car I've ever driven. I'll be racing it in SCCA Solo2 next season so we'll see how good of a pilot I am... And if you were going to park the S2K in your lawn, you should definitely get a trailer hitch for it and attach your new bass boat "Git-R-Done III". That would rock El T's world!