Boycott GM

[Rohirrim]

I can't tell you how pissed I am about this. Last night I'm watching Anthony Bourdain in Beirut. He does these cooking/travel shows. Usually pretty funny stuff, except this time, they went to do a show in Lebanon the day before the kidnapping by Hizbollah and subsequent Israeli counterattack.

Anyway, a Cadillac commercial comes on. I'm only dimly aware of it, but then I notice at the end of the commercial they put up the Cadillac insignia with these words below it, "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of..." I almost fell off the GD couch. I realize that commercialism holds nothing sacred. United Airlines uses one of the masterpieces of American music (Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue") to sell airline tickets (I also boycott them). And every song that was an anthem of my youth has become a commercialized ditty. Hell, they're using Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changin' " (which was the theme song for an entire era of American history) to sell insurance! It's obvious that to the slimeballs of the marketing world, nothing is sacred.

But for Cadillac to use the words of the Declaration of Indepence to sell its cars is the foulest, lowest, slimiest, degradation of that which should be held in the greatest esteem by every American. Is this what we want our children to learn - that our most sacred ideals are for sale to the lowest bidder? "Oh yeah, kid, it's the Declaration of Indepence. We used to think it was a pretty big deal, but now we just use it to sell cars. It's really not important. Next year, we're using the Preamble of the Constitution to sell Cheese Whiz."

These people should be dragged from their offices and tarred and feathered.

They have gone too far.

[Spider]

Never had much love for GM .........but i am forced into a Suburban ......... And I am restoring an old Firebird

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Never had much love for GM .........but i am forced into a Suburban ......... And I am restoring an old Firebird

Ford is no better. Both are run by people that have not the faintest idea of what foresight and innovation is. Ford will be laying off 30% of it's workforce and closing 30% of their plants in the next 18 months because (in a statement last Friday) "we didn't see the drastic drop in pickup sales that high gas prices have led to".

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Next year, we're using the Preamble of the Constitution to sell Cheese Whiz."

Jesus, this statement would be quite funny were it not so painfully accurate.

BTW, isn't GM also leading all auto manufacturers in the category of 'worst fuel efficiency?'

One more reason to boycott their sorry asses.

[Spider]

Ford is no better. Both are run by people that have not the faintest idea of what foresight and innovation is. Ford will be laying off 30% of it's workforce and closing 30% of their plants in the next 18 months because (in a statement last Friday) "we didn't see the drastic drop in pickup sales that high gas prices have led to".
DONT EVER SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT FORD ....... FORD LOVES US , THEY CARE FOR US , THEY WANT US TO BE HAPPY AND SAFE ..............or not ;D

[bendog]

It's unimaginable to me that Ford didn't see the gas crunch coming. They didn't that's obvious, but the Ford who's their CEO was touting more fuel effiency with Gore in 2000. They had the Taurus outselling Camry's before they designed it into something resembling a turd.

meanwhile the new camaro
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/060821/ids_photos_ca_wl/ra3229837071.jpg

edit, ps I didn't know Bourdin was doing new shows. The old ones were my fav tv show.

[Spider]

It's unimaginable to me that Ford didn't see the gas crunch coming. They didn't that's obvious, but the Ford who's their CEO was touting more fuel effiency with Gore in 2000. They had the Taurus outselling Camry's before they designed it into something resembling a turd.

meanwhile the new camaro
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/060821/ids_photos_ca_wl/ra3229837071.jpg

edit, ps I didn't know Bourdin was doing new shows. The old ones were my fav tv show.
kinda has an old school look to it

[Rohirrim]

It's unimaginable to me that Ford didn't see the gas crunch coming. They didn't that's obvious, but the Ford who's their CEO was touting more fuel effiency with Gore in 2000. They had the Taurus outselling Camry's before they designed it into something resembling a turd.

meanwhile the new camaro
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/060821/ids_photos_ca_wl/ra3229837071.jpg

edit, ps I didn't know Bourdin was doing new shows. The old ones were my fav tv show.

He has a series on the Travel channel now called "No Reservations." Pretty good stuff. ;D

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

It's unimaginable to me that Ford didn't see the gas crunch coming.

And, now that it's here, they're acting like it doesn't exist and everything is business as usual.

I guess this just reflects the 'leadership' on energy being provided by the Bush/Exxon WH.

[bendog]

Thanks, I'll check it out. The time he ate blow fish and then cow's penis were classics, imo.

I like the thirsty traveler too.

Travel channel's got better stuff than foodtv.com imo

However, I sorta liked the airline commercial with rhapsody in blue.

[bendog]

And, now that it's here, they're acting like it doesn't exist and everything is business as usual.

I guess this just reflects the 'leadership' on energy being provided by the Bush/Exxon WH.
You had some doubt that bush/cheney didn't know energy prices would go up, and pursued policies to make that happen sooner rather than later? Cheney explicitly said prices will go up until they're so high that hydrogen looks "cheap." Of course he didn't say that until AFTER the 2000 election/selection.

[Rohirrim]

Thanks, I'll check it out. The time he ate blow fish and then cow's penis were classics, imo.

I like the thirsty traveler too.

Travel channel's got better stuff than foodtv.com imo

However, I sorta liked the airline commercial with rhapsody in blue.

Friggin traitor. ;D

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the American people are just completely ho-hum about this commercialization of our iconography? Maybe I'm alone on this one?

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

You had some doubt that bush/cheney didn't know energy prices would go up, and pursued policies to make that happen sooner rather than later? Cheney explicitly said prices will go up until they're so high that hydrogen looks "cheap." Of course he didn't say that until AFTER the 2000 election/selection.

Yep.

I remember when Deadeye Dick promised $60 a barrel to his oil industry backers.

That was WAY before the 2K selection.

(They were livid about $1.00 a gallon gas on Clinton's watch.)

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the American people are just completely ho-hum about this commercialization of our iconography? Maybe I'm alone on this one?

It's scary when you think about it: Giant corporations like GM have essentially purchased our government. Americans should be outraged by this kind of sh*t, but they've become anesthetized, it seems.

[bronclvr]

It's scary when you think about it: Giant corporations like GM have essentially purchased our government. Americans should be outraged by this kind of sh*t, but they've become anesthetized, it seems.


Just wait until the "Giant" Japenese or Chinese corporations own it (they already do)!

[BroncoBuff]

The only domestic I'll consider is a Chrysler product...

Your point is even more compelling when you realize those words have no protection under copyright laws ... so they've been free for any company to use in ads forever. But it took this Jesus-obsessed, red-state- centric, quasi-oligarchical atmosphere to prod a company to use it. For shame.

I think "Rhapsody" is in the public domain now, too ... he wrote that when, the 20s? I adore that composition, perhaps the greatest American composition ever. But I've had the opposite reaction to the United ads ... I enjoy their snippets of it and the variations they use. It would be nice if they credited George at the end of ads, though ... like MTV, down in the corner.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Just wait until the "Giant" Japenese or Chinese corporations own it (they already do)!

Yep. If they decided to stop buying our worthless treasury paper, we'd surely be f_cked (but then who would they sell all their cheap plastic sh_t to?)

[GonzoLays]

Shouldn't we be more appalled at GM for cutting thousands of American jobs, slashing the retirement benefits of elderly workers, and inducing thousands of it senior workers to retire early and live on lower pension benefits? Shouldn't that get you goat more than a freakin' slogan? Where are our priorities?

There are plenty reasons to boycott, but to refuse to spend your hard earned dollars with a company because they uttered "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit..." is a bit out there.

(And by the way, Honda used the same tagline to sell it's Civic line. I guess we should boycott them too?)

http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/images/lifeliberty2.jpg

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Shouldn't we be more appalled at GM for cutting thousands of American jobs, slashing the retirement benefits of elderly workers, and inducing thousands of it senior workers to retire early and live on lower pension benefits? Shouldn't that get you goat more than a freakin' slogan? Where are our priorities?

There are plenty reasons to boycott, but to refuse to spend your hard earned dollars with a company because they uttered "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit..." is a bit out there.

(And by the way, Honda used the same tagline to sell it's Civic line. I guess we should boycott them too?)

http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/images/lifeliberty2.jpg

+1 :thumbsup:

[ak1971]

+80:strong:

[epicSocialism4tw]

I can't tell you how pissed I am about this. Last night I'm watching Anthony Bourdain in Beirut. He does these cooking/travel shows. Usually pretty funny stuff, except this time, they went to do a show in Lebanon the day before the kidnapping by Hizbollah and subsequent Israeli counterattack.

Anyway, a Cadillac commercial comes on. I'm only dimly aware of it, but then I notice at the end of the commercial they put up the Cadillac insignia with these words below it, "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of..." I almost fell off the GD couch. I realize that commercialism holds nothing sacred. United Airlines uses one of the masterpieces of American music (Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue") to sell airline tickets (I also boycott them). And every song that was an anthem of my youth has become a commercialized ditty. Hell, they're using Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changin' " (which was the theme song for an entire era of American history) to sell insurance! It's obvious that to the slimeballs of the marketing world, nothing is sacred.

But for Cadillac to use the words of the Declaration of Indepence to sell its cars is the foulest, lowest, slimiest, degradation of that which should be held in the greatest esteem by every American. Is this what we want our children to learn - that our most sacred ideals are for sale to the lowest bidder? "Oh yeah, kid, it's the Declaration of Indepence. We used to think it was a pretty big deal, but now we just use it to sell cars. It's really not important. Next year, we're using the Preamble of the Constitution to sell Cheese Whiz."

These people should be dragged from their offices and tarred and feathered.

They have gone too far.

Nothing is sacred anymore, that's for certain.

The thing that has always bothered me about pure capitalism is that it leaves little room for the growth of culture. This Caddy example is a good one.

For me, the flippant use of Jesus of Nazareth as a prop for political statements has always struck a raw nerve. Same goes for movies like "Dogma" and humor that lowers Jesus' stature to someone who should be poked fun of. It's disrespectful and rude to the millions of Christians in the country.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

+80:strong:

More like < 0. :flush:

[W*GS]

Shouldn't we be more appalled at GM for cutting thousands of American jobs, slashing the retirement benefits of elderly workers, and inducing thousands of it senior workers to retire early and live on lower pension benefits? Shouldn't that get you goat more than a freakin' slogan? Where are our priorities?

How would boycotting GM change the above?

[alkemical]

I won't 'boycott' them - i don't have to - unitl they can make a car that has the same quality as it's competitors - they aren't even a consideration.

[GonzoLays]

How would boycotting GM change the above?

When did I ever advocate boycotting GM?