How the Consumer Reports Mindset Is Wrecking Agricultural Marketing

Why doubling down on flawed models leads to stagnation instead of innovation

“Existing models are extraordinarily persistent in the face of ineffectiveness, and that is because our use of models to organize our thinking and action is so automatic.”
- Roger Martin, A New Way To Think

In the fall of 2009, hundreds of Lexus and Toyota owners sent the entire nation into a panic.

They claimed that their cars had suddenly and inexplicably accelerated, causing accidents. The media ran the most compelling of these stories on the nightly news. Fear gripped the country. There were congressional hearings on Capitol Hill, whistleblowers, and a seemingly never-ending stream of lawsuits.

Toyota conducted seven recalls in the subsequent 18 months, involving millions of vehicles. Ninety people were estimated to have died as a result of “runaway Toyotas.”

In the end, the US government fined Toyota $1.2 billion. The company then settled a class action lawsuit for an additional $1.1 billion and 400 separate lawsuits related to unintended acceleration claims.

Some pointed to thick floor mats in certain Lexus and Toyota vehicles, suggesting the gas pedal was getting stuck underneath them. Toyota responded by recalling the mats. Others argued the culprit was the complexity of the vehicle’s software—a bug in the code managing acceleration and deceleration.

Then, in February 2011, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released its findings after a detailed investigation of the Toyota vehicles linked to sudden acceleration reports. By analyzing the black box data from the cars, they discovered a shocking pattern: in nearly every case, the brakes hadn’t been touched.

The cars were accelerating because instead of hitting the brake, the drivers were hitting the accelerator.

Perhaps the most astonishing twist in the sudden acceleration saga came from Consumer Reports.

Amid the controversy, they released a video offering advice on what to do in the event of unintended acceleration. The video provides a step-by-step guide to help drivers regain control. The narrator explains that sudden acceleration might be caused by various mechanical issues—a malfunctioning gas pedal, a broken throttle return spring, or even a jammed floor mat. He then offers this advice: “Your first instinct is probably the right one: put your foot on the brake firmly and don’t lift off.”

At first glance, this seems logical. But if the overwhelming cause of unintended acceleration is driver error - mistakenly pressing the gas pedal instead of the brake - this advice misses the mark entirely.

What they should have said is the exact opposite: the first thing you should do is lift your foot off whatever pedal you’re pressing and check whether it’s the brake or the accelerator. Only then should you press firmly and avoid lifting off.

In agricultural marketing today, we must ask ourselves a critical question: are the actions we’re taking actually suited to the problem we’re trying to solve?