Am I being harsh? Watch it yourself.

Fast Tube by Casper

With Minis growing in size, price, and complexity, Fiat could have conveyed itself as more focused, fun, and approachable than its British competitor. The 500, as an automobile and a piece of engineering, sits near the top of a growing microcar segment that’s eager to distance itself from miserable appliances like the Toyota Echo.

Unfortunately, as a marketing exercise, it’s a wreck.

Impatto, the Michigan ad agency hired by Fiat, [Not Impatto, see correction below] has linked what ought to be a fresh and accessible new car with Jennifer Lopez, a polarizing has-been struggling to regain relevance. With Lopez occupying more camera time than the 500, she appears to snuff out the little Fiat, bringing the audience’s focus to her parachute shorts.

A vehicle as well-packaged, creative, and cleverly designed as the 500 deserves much better.

When the Mazda Miata arrived on American shores in 1989, it was a breath of fresh air at a time when manufacturers shunned convertibles, treated quality with indifference, and scarcely delivered on fun. The 500 has the potential to be the same glimmer of hope for this generation’s driving enthusiasts, to influence an industry obsessed with adding weight, ugliness, and complexity to automobiles.

The Miata’s round, petite body was a refreshing departure from the predictable, refrigerator-inspired vehicles of the 1980s, just like the diminutive proportions of the 500 are a rapid departure from the fat, nebulous, crossover-inspired styling that’s taken the industry by storm.

We’re in a dumpy period of automotive design, and we may look back on this era with disdain the same way we look at fat, ugly cars from the 1970s. Fiat has a chance to reemphasize the importance of automotive styling, especially as Toyota, Honda, and BMW chase each other into a fog of derivative nothingness so hopelessly dull that they verge on being torturous and offensive.

[I’m calling you out Honda Crosstour, and you as well BMW 5-series GT.]

Two decades after the 1989 introduction of the Miata, the world’s favorite roadster is still being produced, breaking Guinness records for sales volume.

Where will be the Fiat 500 be in 2032? Hopefully not in the 50-cent bin at Big Lots, where J-Lo’s recordings have piled up.

If Fiat has any intention of being more than a flash in the pan in America, it has to focus on lasting appeal and distance itself from washed up pop stars.

Correction: The ad was created by another agency, not Impatto. Impatto and Fiat have parted ways. [Thanks Kathleen!]