A study sponsored by the General Office of the National Association for Dealership Studies shows that giant inflatable gorillas on dealership rooftops can increase car sales by up to 14%.

“We believe it has something to do with man’s close connection to primates,” said GO-NADS spokesman Bill Monthly. “Something about a twenty-foot-tall blow-up ape seems to connect with consumers on a subconscious level. We surveyed dealerships with a wide variety of giant inflatable decorations, including giant inflatable dinosaurs, giant inflatable beavers, and giant inflatable sombreros, and while most saw at least some increase in sales, none could match the consistent gains seen by dealerships with giant inflatable gorillas.”

Monthly noted that not all dealers with giant inflatable objects on the roof saw the same results.

“One dealership in the study with a giant inflatable platypus on the roof had significantly lower sales,” he said. “However, a slaughterhouse and fish processing plant opened across the street during the same week as the study, plus the dealer had recently hired a seven-piece mariachi band and a new sales manager with a bad attitude and excessively foul body odor. We suspect these other factors may have skewed the results.”

While the presence of a giant inflatable gorilla may seem moronic and patronizing, the big air-filled primates do appear to resonate with consumers. Michelle Serious-Blister, a 25 year old receptionist from Passingzone, Wisconsin, said the inflatable gorilla perched atop her local Ford dealership was a major factor in her purchase decision.

“My husband and I wanted to trade in our Toyota Camry because the payments and gas mileage were really straining our finances,” she said. “We had decided on a two-year-old Honda Fit we found on Craigslist, but when we drove past the giant gorilla at Passable Ford, we just had to stop in. We bought a brand-new F350 Super Duty King Ranch V10 long bed dually, and we couldn’t be happier!”

© Autoblopnik — Hat tip to Mark Wrenchedin