An additional driver for hybrids' popularity is a controversial movement, differing in status and exact nature from one state to another, to allow some or all hybrids into the High-Occupancy Vehicle aka carpool lanes regardless of how many people are on board.
This pits the states against the federal government, which wants only pure electrics and alternative-fuel vehicles to solo in the HOV lanes (presumably wielding highway funds as its enforcement weapon). Thus there's a controversy- within- a- controversy about whether this sort of thing should be up to the Feds or decided by each state.
(Check with your state's transportation or motor-vehicles department before diving into the diamond lane alone, as violations can result in a ticket about the size of Rhode Island.)
Back to the original question: come to think of it, I can't readily envision a recent TV commercial that explicitly brags about mileage. Or maybe I only pay attention to the ones that tell you how fast, clbutty, or likely to make people think you're a cowboy the vehicle is.
Perhaps they figure that people who are highly motivated by gas mileage and other factors in operating cost are less likely to be swayed by advertising, so big-ticket adverts in costly media are steered toward the people who make decisions based on image rather than data? Just a guess.
--Joe
