Mean, aggressive expressions created by grillwork on cars

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Have you checked the face of your automobile? Is it smiling, friendly and inviting? Or is it looking mean and aggressive?
Expressions on the front of cars using the headlights for eyes, grille for a mouth and bumper as jaws have long been part of the design factor for automakers, the Wall Street Journal says. And lately they're moving toward tough and angry.
Maybe it's because the world seems menacing. Or perhaps it's soothing for a driver threatened by an oversized SUV. In any event, for many manufacturers, the mood is shifting from smiling and open to edgy and snarling. Such faces are increasingly important, apparently, in today's competitive market.
Cadillac sponsored a focus group in which participants were asked to listen to meditative music, recall their childhoods and focus on the car fronts. After three hours, one person said the prototype looked like "bared teeth of an animal," according to the WSJ.
Like human beings, some cars are in a different mood. The Mini Cooper has doelike eyes.
"We like to think Hondas are smiling," one advertising executive told WSJ. Volvo said the company wanted to project broad strong shoulders in its hood and fender but not in a growling grille. The Mazda Miata was meant to have a "sly grin."
Auto styles, like fashion, come and they go. And maybe the next car you buy will be in a better mood.