by - A momfluencer car critic touted a $499,000 armored SUV as the “safest vehicle” for families.
- The Rezvani Vengeance has pepper spray, bulletproof glass and electrified door handles.
- Psychologists told Insider that parents on social media may see the world as a more dangerous place.
“I am armored, and so is this vehicle!”
So begins the pregnant “Mobile Mama” in her latest viral video, speaking in an animated voice and wearing a bulletproof vest and military helmet. This time around, the social media influencer – who reviews vehicles on TikTok and Instagram based on how family-friendly the cars are – presented the Rezvani Vengeance as the perfect safety-focused choice for families.
The Vengeance, a street-legal luxury military vehicle, has electrified door handles, explosive underbody armor, and can pulverize anyone who gets too close. The armored SUV, with optional blinding headlights and steel bumper for off-roading or crashes, ranges from $285,000 to $499,000, depending on which deadly doo-dad owner you opt for. Complete bulletproofing is available on the fully loaded vehicle, while the base model comes with standard safety features such as pedestrian detection and a heads-up display in place of a rear view mirror.
Optional night vision, smoke screen and rifle magazine are available at extra cost.
“Is the Rezvani Vengeance the safest vehicle for you and your kids or what, Mommy?” the influencer asks viewers in her TikTok captions, before highlighting the tank car’s “memorable” features.
Comments on the video range from mocking the military-grade SUV – with some viewers saying “this is NOT gta” and “do you live in Gotham or something?” – to praise the embellished machine: “If I ever get rich, I’ll buy one of these right away.”
Rezvani President and CMO Cynthia Karimi told Insider that the typical Vengeance buyer is the wealthy doomsday mastermind or flash-and-safety-conscious celebrity who doesn’t want to ride around in a “discreet” security vehicle – like an armored Lexus , BMW, or Range Rover. However, she said, a significant portion of her buyers are those with larger families who want to be “prepared for anything and everything.”
The Rezvani Vengeance, pictured next to a small plane.
Rezvani Engines
Social media can leave parents ‘terrified all the time’
While the clip sparked jokes about parents driving the Vengeance to soccer practice or accidentally hitting their kids with its electrified handles, mental health professionals told Insider that the video highlights a serious issue. It reveals an extreme example of the dark side of parenting social media accounts, where parents – especially mothers – face increasing pressure to keep their children safe and can be influenced to take over-the-top measures to ease their anxiety.
“I think when you see a bulletproof SUV with flamethrowers and pepper spray and that kind of thing, most of us think, ‘Oh my God, this is crazy,'” Lynn Lyons, a clinical social worker independent licensee and host of the popular podcast Fusterclux, about managing anxiety, tells Insider. “But where I see it become a lot more powerful — and a lot more damaging — is when we’re talking about very consistent messaging that, for example, it’s really important to track your kids so you know where they are at all times.”
Lyons said that social media, with its “constant drumbeat of all the horrible things that can happen to your kids”, has contributed to a generation of parents that she says are “terrified all the time”.
Mobile Mama told Insider that she doesn’t feel any particular pressure to keep her kids safe with a vehicle like the Vengeance, but would have one for her family if money wasn’t an issue. Her name is known to Insider, but due to the harassment she suffered on her profile because of this video, it is being withheld.
As a mother and former teacher, Mobile Mama said she sees there is a “hyperfocus” on parents doing everything they can to protect their children, which she believes is caused by constant news reports about things like school shootings and kidnappings.
“I don’t think a lot of parents on social media would say, ‘I’m going to buy one of those bulletproof cars,'” Lyons told Insider. “But I think they’re going to say, ‘Wow, the world is really dangerous. It’s really important to me to do all these things that aren’t in the crazy category to make sure my kids aren’t at any risk.'”
Rezvani’s Revenge
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That kind of pressure, Lyons said, can make parents believe they’re failing their kids if they don’t take steps like tracking their location or reading their social media messages. And, as technology has advanced, the measures parents take to keep their children safe have remained in tune.
“There’s also an interesting thing that happens: if the technology is available, and if you don’t use it and something bad happens to your child, you feel an enormous amount of guilt and regret,” said Lyons Insider. “And that’s what anxiety really feeds on — the possibility of something bad happening and how you can avoid regret.”
Anxious parents raise less resilient children
Parents who are overly concerned about their children’s safety can monitor their children’s whereabouts with GPS trackers, watch them with teen baby monitors, or prevent them from interacting with strangers.
“Having a fair amount of fear can be helpful and can allow parents to teach and model their children ways to stay safe and work towards their independence,” said Lena Suarez-Angelino, LCSW for Choice Therapy, in a statement. to Insider. “Parents who struggle to keep their children safe may actually do more harm than good when their children begin to gain and explore their independence.”
Anxious parents tend to raise children who are less likely to take risks, have a higher rate of depression and are less confident in general, Lyons told Insider. As a result, they may be less emotionally resilient, have difficulty solving problems, and avoid social interaction.
“Parents’ irrational fears can create unhealthy worries in their children and manifest in negative ‘what if’ or ‘worst case’ thinking patterns,” said Dr. Jaclyn Gulotta, a Florida Supreme Court-certified family mediator, in a statement to Insider, added, “Parents may exhibit poor emotional regulation and unhealthy coping skills that can lead their children to engage in the same behaviors.”
To raise resilient children, Lyons said, parents need to do the opposite of what anxiety leads them to do: be comfortable not knowing or controlling all outcomes. Allowing children to fail, within reason, or experience age-appropriate risks is critical.
“These skills that are really important for independence and emotional management and resilience, those skills are not cultivated in an environment of safety, protection, protection,” Lyons told Insider.
Mobile Mama told Insider that her channel aims to provide a helpful service to her audience — made up of around 70% moms like her, she estimates, based on her engagement. When considering a new vehicle, her audience considers the car’s size and functionality, but most of all its safety features.
“I guess as a mother you want your kids to be safe, right?” Mobile Mama told Insider. “That’s the number one concern.”
