Have you seen that clever commercial for the Nissan Rogue crossover-utility vehicle, the one with the imaginative little boy? It includes a tractor-trailer whose nautical cargo gets the child's mind really workin'. 

At the commercial's start, the boy, who looks to be 3 or 4, is safely secured in the back seat as his parents leave some spooky woods at dusk. A gnarly long-dead tree is behind them, but thanks to a backup camera, Dad stops reversing in plenty of time and pulls away. The boy looks out the rear window and in his mind, the mean ol’ tree leans forward and tries to snag them, but they get away!

Then the blind-spot warning system alerts them to the presence of a bearded, bushy-haired guy in an open car, but the boy sees a big brown bear loping alongside.

Now in the city, amid mist, they come upon a big rig transporting what looks like a tug or fishing boat, strapped to a special trailer. The car's "Safety Shield technologies" again provide warning, and Dad pulls to the left and passes the rig, and we glimpse its left-rear tandem.

The little boy looks up at the boat and sees a three-masted schooner, foundering and in peril! It bobs violently in a wild ocean, its canvas sails torn and flapping in gale-force winds.

Wait – weren’t the tandem’s tires kicking up water spray? It's flying into motorists’ eyes and beating against the boat’s hull, which of course is built to take that, but… Oh! The tire has picked up a spike and sent it deep into the hull where it goes undetected but has mortally wounded the craft!

Later, the boat leaves port and, heavy with seawater that’s gushed aboard, it suddenly encounters a massive rogue wave, plunging downward to the abyss with all hands! 

OK, out of my own imagination and back to the commercial: We get a brief view of the rig from the front as the Rogue powers by it. It’s dark and the headlamps are blinding, so we can’t see exactly what the tractor is. It’s an aero type with a wide hood and round headlights, and the badge on the nose looks like a KW’s. So I’m guessing it’s an older Kenworth T2000. See if you can ID it.

Because maybe it’s stolen, and the boat will be used by drug smugglers to bring in more of their pleasurable poison, further weakening our country’s moral fiber. Or maybe it’ll be commandeered by terrorists, armed to the teeth and Allah-bent on punishing America for its sins! Hey, anything could happen.

At the commercial’s end, the little boy, resting in his dad’s arms, waves at the Rogue. Its turn signal winks back. Hmm. ‘Scuse me while I head for my Nissan dealer to daydream some more and see if a car winks at me. Or maybe the sales people will just give me a good deal.

About the author
Tom Berg

Tom Berg

Former Senior Contributing Editor

Journalist since 1965, truck writer and editor since 1978.

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