'Mad Men' Stars Vincent Kartheiser, Rich Sommer Sell High-Speed Rail (VIDEO)

Reprising their characters from the hit series, "Mad Men," actors Vincent Kartheiser and Rich Sommer have teamed up with U.S. PIRG and Funny Or Die to voice their support for high-speed rail in America.

Ensconced in their usual roles of 1960's ad men, Kartheiser begins pitching his ideas for selling high-speed rail to Americans, and more specifically how to wean them off their cars.

"Why are you worrying about this?" Sommer responds. "Trains make sense. They're efficient, they're convenient, they're good for jobs. Hell, I'd rather take a train than fly or drive anywhere. We don't need to sell trains."

But despite President Obama's proposal for a 6-year, $53 billion spending plan toward high-speed rail, numerous politicians aren't on board. Some have made dramatic protests against the measures, like Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who rejected a last-ditch move by the Obama Administration to build a portion of a national high-speed rail system in his state, though California has said they would be more than happy to take the money that was allotted to the state.

According to the Environmental Law & Policy Center, high-speed trains through the Midwest would be three times as energy efficient as cars, and six times more efficient than planes, meaning cleaner air and less sprawl in addition to new jobs. A study on California's high-speed rail project by the Center for Urban Infrastructure estimated that it would reduce CO2 by half a billion pounds annually by 2035, in addition to adding 127,000 permanent jobs to southern California.

As Time's Bryan Walsh puts it, the U.S.'s outdated rail system is "a laughingstock compared with those in most other developed nations." China, for example, is investing over $300 billion to create more than 16,000 miles of high-speed rail by 2020.

See how the advertising gurus of "Mad Men" propose selling high-speed rail to America below, and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments.

WATCH:

Mad Men On Trains from Rich Sommer

Comments

[jimveejr]

12:04 AM on 03/14/2011

"Californians have a reputation for questioning authority. And increasingly, they appear to be questioning the High-Speed Rail Authority, which voters empowered in 2008 to issue $9.95 billion in bonds and build the nation’s largest such system."

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/261624/bullet-train-bankruptcy-lou-dolinar

[rodjard]

08:22 PM on 03/13/2011

How much in sales tax, convenienc­e stores, restuarant , fast food, gas tax, would consumers not spend if they were on high speed transit going from place to place. Gotta keep'em in their cars. Slow'em down goin' through the state so they stay at motels even to make a short trip reletively speakin'. Make'em stop at lots of lights. Shove the business fronts up in their faces wheather they wanna stop or not. No public convenienc­e, just a hard time to extract more revenue.

[Vyslichajici]

08:01 AM on 03/12/2011

the key to making trains/light rail work in the usa is the taxicab

why?

because when you get close to where you want to be, you need to travel the last mile, and if you have no car with you... there hasd BETTER be a good taxicab fleet handy or you are effed. without addressing availabilities of last-mile transport, since american urrban planning has expected that people will travel by wheel from hither to yon, light rail and trains will not make enough sense.

[LouGots]

06:03 AM on 03/12/2011

"Mad Men?" No, The Simpsons did it best. "Monorail!" I don't have to link it, because Kizar beat me to it. :

[JDINTX]

11:45 PM on 03/11/2011

Windmills, trains.......take me back to a kinder, gentler time....problem is high speed rail may be the single biggest boondoggle from the Administration this month. China has no roads and 1.3 billion people; they had a traffic jam that lasted 2 weeks! Next to the Post Office, Amtrak is the most heavily subsidized quasi-private entity in America.Trains should carry freight,and hobos. Kind of like the P.O. ,no comments I worked there during the holidays for years and I'm still amazed anyone ever gets their mail. Hopefully the budget debacle will send this looney idea to the dustbin of history. Build bicycle paths,that's the only mode of politically correct transportation. You want to visit mom for Thanksgiving, start out on Labor Day....

[LTParis]

07:43 AM on 03/12/2011

There are more than enough data out there that HSR would provide a positive revenue stream in it's operation, and spur growth. We are running out of real estate to build roads in our populated areas, but you call it a boondoggle? Please provide proof that this is a horrible idea.

Our future is in multi-modal transportation. Trains, planes, bikes, cars, buses; there is a case to be made for all, but this 1940's vision of a cars only society has driven us to massive bottlenecks and lost revenue.

Maybe you live in a more rural area and that is fine for car transportation, but the more urban areas (which over 60% of the population lives in) needs options.

[JDINTX]

03:22 PM on 03/12/2011

Guess you're not a big fan of satire. Lived in NYC for 40yrs, mon frere and took trains all the time. Give me back the months spent in Penn Station waiting for my forever late LIRR train. How do you plan to get Right of Way; buy it, use emminent domain? Don't forget the enviornmental impact studies and don't get me started on union construction delays! Amtrak runs in the red every year;if it can't make money in the most densely populated corridor,then where.?
I did say build bike paths, can't I get a little love for that?

[jimveejr]

12:09 AM on 03/14/2011

It is an enormous waste of taxpayer dollars. I could provide ten links pointing this out. Like most government projects, it will have to get built for 5 times the original estimates, and then subsidized by taxpayers (because a ticket would have to cost $900 just to break even); then we will all know what a wasteful boondoggle it is but it will be too late.

[Kizar Sozay]

04:18 PM on 03/10/2011

A reprise of The Simpsons 'Monorail Song' somehow seems appropriate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF_yLodI1CQ

[PoliticalJunkie24]

03:22 PM on 03/10/2011

Love Mad Men. This is awesome.

[DKA]

03:17 PM on 03/10/2011

High speed rail is the dumbest idea I have ever heard of...and I love how European countries are cited as positive examples when the majority of countries in Europe are smaller than the state of Texas...there is no possible way this industry could maintain itself without government subsidies

[tiredofthesameoldstuff]

04:14 PM on 03/10/2011

That applies to highways, roads, airports as well. Without massive goverment subsidies there would be no airline industry in the US nor highway system.

[French Toast]

04:55 PM on 03/11/2011

Roads are subsidized as is the airline industry. This is known fact.

[JDINTX]

11:54 PM on 03/11/2011

Roads are paid for by your gasoline taxes; if the politicians don't get their hands on them first. We don't have Government Airlines.........yet

[Schaef]

02:31 PM on 03/10/2011

Maybe for their next video they can pitch a 40mph "choo-choo" passenger train from Cleveland to Cincinnati, like they were going to try to build in Ohio instead of fixing our highways and bridges.

[Malcolm Hensley]

11:12 AM on 03/10/2011

High speed Rail is as much to do with culture as it is to do with technology!

The leaders in High Speed Rail are nations that think a hundred miles is a long way where as we think a hundred years is a long time!

The only way to bridge this gap is to figure out how to efficiently load our treasured cars also! Think how scary the thought is to trust mass transit in a strange city in America!

Someone figures out how to efficiently load our cars the airlines are in deep trouble, rental car business are in deep trouble!

How many traveling salesmen have their office in their car?

As an old road warrior if I could have brought my car I'd a ditched the airlines years ago!

Technically this should not be an issue because their is very few things as efficient as steel on steel! (Very low coefficient of friction)

The people trying to bring us High Speed Rail have to think about the natural independence that American's desire and accommodate these feelings to be successful!

[Eruch Adams]

05:45 PM on 03/10/2011

I think rental cars would increase with high speed rail. Think about it. I almost went to Miami today, but didn't because the flights were way too high, and (partially) I didn't want to drive 12 hours to get there. If I had the convenience of hopping on a train, where I could kick back and read or work on my laptop, I'd have done it if the price were under $200 or so. I may have needed to rent a car once there, since I had to get from point A to B while there. As gas prices increase, we will have no option but to ad some rail or just live in our own community and travel much less often.

[MiamiMama]

07:41 PM on 03/10/2011

I agree with you. I want to see relatives in Florida. I don't like the drive. If there was high speed rail, I would hop on the train. The drive from Miami to any city is boring flat land and terrible driving conditions with big trucks and crazy speeding drivers. Scott came and overturned what the people wanted.

[Vyslichajici]

08:09 AM on 03/12/2011

yes, in france it is convenient and affordable to travel by train to the general area of your destination, rent a car in the lobby of the train station, and walk out to the parking lot with the keys. taxus are also ubiquitous, clean as a whistle, courteous, and afforable. in america, taxi companies are sloppy, dirty, rudely run monopolies, and frequently too few cabs are provided to ensure easy cash flow from the public to the cab company owners. taxi monoplies will need to be rooted out if light rail and high speed trains are to be made to work. car rental companies will find a new business space also.

[wendynyc]

09:33 AM on 03/10/2011

The energy companies don't want us to get it - because people will see the advantages over automobiles!

[AustinG]

12:12 PM on 03/10/2011

What advantages are those? Having to go to a central station. Hoping there is transportation from where you get off the train to where you want to go? The automobile has the advantages which is why people buy cars and why they do not ride trains.

[Eruch Adams]

05:51 PM on 03/10/2011

You can sleep on a train. Or read or work or eat. That's quite an advantage. If you want to go from the east coast to the west coast but don't want to pay for motels and restaurants for 2-6 days (depending on your speed and number of bathroom brakes) then a train will be a good option compared to Airlines because it should be cheaper to roll a train than lift a jet, as the article indicates. You lose some freedoms to pull off the road and visit sights or aunt Ethel, but many people are trying to get from point A to B and would love to relax while doing so. I frequently talk myself out of trips that have more than 4 hours of driving involved. I don't want to come home from vacation exhausted. As gas prices go up, cost saving should go to the most efficient mode of transportation.

[wendynyc]

08:59 PM on 03/10/2011

Austin, apart from the fact that high speed trains can transport multitudes of people at the same time they are also convenient for the elderly that may have lost their ability to drive long distances. Young people also would probably save money as well as they do not need to purchase and maintain a vehicle.

[Bienville]

12:28 PM on 03/10/2011

It has already been done.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_streetcar_scandal

[wendynyc]

09:31 AM on 03/10/2011

It's time we invested heavily in public transportation as a nation - high speed rail, better bus services, bikes lanes in multiple neighborhoods are things that should have happened over thirty years ago!

[FreeHat]

04:57 AM on 03/10/2011

High-speed rail is great between dense population centers. Even here though you still run into the facts that it won't be profitable and it won't cause a measurable dent in the global temperature anomaly (as with electric cars). The motivation for building these rail systems should come from a consumer stand point - ease of use, practicality, slightly cheaper than airfare, more comfortable and in general something you take for granted if you are used to travelling internationally. And they look cool!

[tiredofthesameoldstuff]

07:27 AM on 03/10/2011

Highways aren't profitable and often cost as much as high speed rail or more.

High Speed Rail in the long run can break even or even generate a profit or still wind up costing a lot less then highways that can carry the same amount of passengers.

[JDINTX]

12:11 AM on 03/12/2011

You've never been on a toll road or bridge. They continue collecting tolls decades after they have been paid for

[TamaraHenry]

02:30 AM on 03/10/2011

See him riding public transportation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Io1CGSJvfU&tracker=False

[DanSc]

11:10 PM on 03/09/2011

I want high speed rail as much as anyone, but a car on an open road cannot be topped.