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How does the car industry get away with this, in 2021? Especially at the retail coalface. Up next: The ugly truth about the Ming Moll.  

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Last week on my \\u2018Ask me anything\\u2019 livestream - 8:30pm Thursdays, Sydney time - at the risk of sounding like \\u2018Confession time at the urologist\\u2019, I had a problem with my stream. I just couldn\\u2019t squeeze it out, contiguously, at the end. I don\\u2019t know why.  Flow became intermittent, and it was hard to follow. I felt like I had more in me, frankly, but I was compelled to end it early. Most dissatisfying. Right when I was explaining the whole Ming Moll phenomenon.  So, let\\u2019s talk about that. Clear it all up. What are Ming Molls and why do I, at times, refer to them?  OK - so \\u2018Ming\\u2019 (not the one from Flash Gordon) Ming was a form of automotive paint protection, in the olden days. Like, back when women were still throwing it at me. Occasionally.  Ming was a classic upsell at a dealership. Like, you know the endurance event, right? The sales guy wearing you down \\u2026 gun at your head, metaphorically. Sign here. Meet the sales manager - he\\u2019s closing you, trying to make you think he\\u2019s approving a deal the sales guy can\\u2019t approve - because it\\u2019s so good - but they\\u2019re really giggling behind their hands at you standing there, holding your ankles like that.  And you\\u2019ve already been interviewed by the finance guy, who\\u2019s been trained in the Idi Amin method. Then you lose the circulation in your hands over the trade-in negotiation\\u2026  ...and finally, there\\u2019s the hot chick (I\\u2019m generalising) in the tight blouse \\u2026 the buttons - only just adequate, in the domain of load restraint. And her mission is: Look hot and sell you accessories. Generally ones you don\\u2019t need. Keyhole surgery - goin\\u2019 in through the wallet. Yessssss!  In the trade, this important sales role is invariably referred to (at least in Australia) as \\u2018the Ming Moll\\u2019. I\\u2019m not making this up. Every senior executive in every carmaker in the country knows what/who a Ming Moll is. No context is required. Every dealer principal. Every sales manager at dealerships. Every car company wonk. Yeah - the Ming Moll.  The Ming Moll\\u2019s objective is to look hot and suggestive, and thereby sell you shit you don\\u2019t need, at the dealership\\u2019s typically extortionate billion per cent mark-up. The tinting you can get at a third of the cost, from a dude in a van, with plumber\\u2019s crack, independently. The paint and fabric protection you don\\u2019t need. The rustproofing they still sell, despite the fact - fact - that new cars are galvanised and therefore do not rust. Anyway, it seems to me that the persistence of the Ming Moll in the face of societal reforms, is a gift, editorially. This standard operating practice of the industry deserves to have the piss taken out of it endlessly, in my view. And, superficially, they are somewhat pleasant to look at, which is of course why Ming Molls exist.

Let me know what you think, in the comments below. Especially if you\\u2019re a chick. ESPECIALLY if you\\u2019re a Ming Moll. Are you pro Ming Moll, or opposed? Do try to keep it clean.