Specing the right combo of features and appearance is what marketeers are paid for. Convincing people that a 20% improvement in surviving a head-on is worth accepting a 500% increase in likelihood of being killed in a roll-over** - that's marketing at it's finest. Convincing the prols that 12 miles/gallon is normal and completely acceptable is marketing beyond the call of duty.
Listen, I don't have a (working) TV, but I see the SUV ads over at Tinhorn Flats when I stop for a beer, and let me tell you, the emotional manipulation I see there is totally beyond the pail. Anybody tries to justify an SUV to me, by any means whatever, I picture those ads and say "Yeah, Right".
**Firestone tires accounted for just 14% of SUV rollover deaths.