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Buick's Promo Video for the Regal GS Seems to Show the Car With A Burned-Out Headlight UPDATE 2: Buick Responds!
Buick's Promo Video for the Regal GS Seems to Show the Car With A Burned-Out Headlight UPDATE 2: Buick Responds!-August 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:10:36

I’m a little concerned about the lives of some of our readership, as one reader named Anubhav emailed us to let us know he was so bored he was actually spending time on Buick’s website. While this suggests deeper problems, he did notice one strange detail: on the promo video for the Regal GS, the car seems to have a burned-out headlight.

, if you want to watch it for yourself. I watched it several times, and, yeah, Anubhav seems to be right. That driver’s side headlight is definitely not on. The DLR is on on both sides, but you can see the actual headlamp itself is just illuminated on the right side of the car, not the left.

This seems weird, right? Buick making a whole, expensive promo video and not noticing the car was a ?

Maybe the light was deliberately disabled to avoid glare on the camera? That may be the case, but then you’d wonder why bother with the headlights at all? It’s daylight, and those LED daytime running lights provide enough illumination-excitement, don’t they?

If that was the case, this solution is just...weird.

On the site itself, both lights appear to be illuminated in still images, though it does seem like those lamps were given light via Photoshop magic.

I’ve reached out to Buick to see if they have any explanation for this before it blows up into a full-blown Padiddlegate or Headlightgate or whatever.

Buick responded with a quick statement. Here it is:

You’re seeing a bit of an optical illusion. Neither headlight is on but from that angle the LED wing light makes it seem like the passenger side is on. It is not on.

Okay, maybe, but, I’m not totally convinced. Can that be the reflection from the DRL? The color temperature from what appears to be the headlight seems less blue and more yellow than what the DRLs output. But, you know, maybe that’s it.

Either way, it’s a fascinating situation.

Buick wasn’t crazy that I was still unconvinced, so they responded again:

“I see from the story you’re still skeptical but I am 100 percent sure that’s the case. Mike Ofiara and I oversaw that video production. This longer b-roll set shows additional angles where clearly only the wing lights are on.”

...and here’s a pic from the B-roll:

So, it still sure looks like one light is on, but, look, it’s got to be an illusion, and I trust the Buick guys here. It’s still a strange illusion, but you know how light can be—it plays by its own rules.

More importantly, I guess I should be impressed our Buick’s PR rep, who is taking time out on a Sunday to address this. You deserve a raise.

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