Antimimeticisomorphism Example: Trunk Car Wash

If you’ve seen one car wash, you’ve seen ’em all, right? Well, not quite.

Consider the dynamic duo of Tiki and Alice, a pair of African elephants at the Wildlife Animal Park in southern Oregon. This pair of pachyderms is currently doing double-duty as car wash attendants. Actually, Tiki and Alice are the car wash.

Car Wash - Elephant

Simply roll up your vehicle and these elephantine employees will blast away the grit and grime via high pressure water emanating from their trunks. Then the 39-year-old elephants adroitly finish the job with sponges. (Turtle Wax, alas, is not available.)

For motorists, the elephant car wash is a sure-fire way to get up close and personal with animals that actually dwarf a Chevy Suburban. Meanwhile, Wildlife Animal Park is using this new revenue stream to weather the tough economy: an elephant-rendered car wash will set you back US$20.

Park organizers say another motive behind the scheme is to promote conservation through education. As well, the elephants’ handlers claim Tiki and Alice are actually having fun washing cars. (Did we mention they’re charging 20 bucks per vehicle?)

Still, hats off to Wildlife Animal Park for coming up with such a novel way to bolster the bottom line – especially considering Tiki and Alice work for peanuts.