Corvette Advertisement Pulled From Television

[Fishman]

GET IT BACK ON GM!!!!!

The controversial press will aid in sales... keep your name in the press is what it's all about; ask Madonna. So the next controversial phase would be to put it back on. Put the attorney's fees into the marketing departments budget.

 

[John Doe]

When I first saw that ad I laughed at the disclaimer: In fine print under the ad, instead of the usual, "closed course with professional driver", it says something like "This is only a dream, never drive without a license".. Cracked me up when I saw that!


and...."It is doubtful that General Motors would condone the beer industry showing a 'dream sequence' of 10-year-old children having an after-school 'kegger'," campaigners said.

speaking of keggers, I saw an ad for Heineken keg-can that depicted a car towing fullsized beer kegs! Very very dangerous! They almost killed a guy and his little dog.

 

[Ken]

From E! Online:

Guy Ritchie's Car Wreck
[font=verdana,helvetica]
by Charlie Amter
[/font][font=verdana,helvetica]Aug 27, 2004, 3:45 PM PT[/font][font=verdana,helvetica]
Poor Guy Ritchie.

Madonna's director husband, whose films have tanked at the U.S. box office, has struck out again--this time with a television commercial.

Ritchie's new spot for General Motors' Corvette has been unceremoniously pulled from NBC's Olympics telecasts following complaints from consumer and safety groups.

The commercial features a preteen boy erratically putting the pedal to the metal through New York City streets--eventually becoming airborne, where he sees a girl driving the opposite way. The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" provides the soundtrack.

While Ritchie and GM's ad agency, Campbell-Ewald, may have thought the ad was the perfect way to re-introduce the Corvette to a younger demo not too familiar with the legendary sports car, a coalition of consumer groups thought different. They objected to the ad and wrote letters of protest to GM saying, "This ad is certainly among the most dangerous, anti-safety messages to be aired on national television in recent years."

The ad characterizes the entire car sequence as a schoolboy's dream--the end of the ad shows the kid clutching a skateboard while obsessing over a nearby parked 'Vette. The spot, titled "A Boy's Dream," also included the usual disclaimers about obeying traffic laws, having valid licenses and operating vehicles safely.

But that didn't appease the consumer groups, which included Consumers Union, Public Citizen, the Center for Auto Safety, the Consumer Federation of America and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

"It is doubtful," their letter said, "that General Motors would condone the beer industry showing a 'dream sequence' of 10-year-old children having an after-school kegger."

GM agreed and voluntarily yanked the ad.

[/font]

 

[Rain]

yes, this is just how GM wanted it to play out. Now the C6 is getting so much press its crazy.
They are in the papers nearly every day, discussed on web forums 24 hours a day, and watercooler conversations talked about it for a while too.

Manipulating the Media - and - Any press is Good Press

Both at work -
No fears at GM I assure you!

Rain

 

[Ken]

From McCall.com:

From The Morning Call -- August 30, 2004
<!-- cube wrapper -->
GM pulls Corvette ad featuring underage driver

By Sarah Karush
Of The Associated Press

DETROIT | General Motors Corp., responding to complaints of safety advocates, has withdrawn a Corvette commercial that shows a young boy driving wildly through city streets, the company said.

Leaders of seven auto safety groups sent a letter last week to GM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner protesting the television spot, saying it sent a dangerous message.

GM spokesman Joe Jacuzzi said the automaker pulled the ad for its 2005 Corvette on Tuesday in response to that letter and other consumer feedback. The ad had been running during the Olympics broadcasts.

The ad, titled ''A Boy's Dream,'' features a dream sequence in which a clearly underage boy is shown behind the wheel of the Corvette, attempting unrealistic maneuvers at high speeds. At one point, he passes a girl about the same age driving another car.

Judith Stone, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and one of the signatories of the letter to Wagoner, welcomed GM's decision to pull the ad.

''We're delighted that

they did the right thing,'' she said.

Stone criticized both the promotion of excessive speed in the ad and the depiction of children driving. She pointed to real-life cases in which children as young as 5 have tried to imitate their parents by taking out their cars.

''Promoting illegal and risky behavior in ads viewed by millions of families — especially young males — watching the Olympics is egregious corporate behavior,'' the authors of the letter said.

''It is doubtful that General Motors would condone the beer industry showing a 'dream sequence' of 10-year-old children having an after-school 'kegger.'''

GM's Jacuzzi said the ad never was intended to depict a real-life situation.

''The intention right off the bat was to capture a boy's aspiration of driving a Corvette in a very exaggerated way,'' he said. He said the company received positive reviews as well as criticism of the ad.

Janette Fennell, founder and president of Kids and Cars, said there are no official statistics about accidents in which underage children are at the wheel. But Fennell, who also signed the letter, said her organization knows of about 25 such accidents in seven years that resulted in fatalities.

Fennell said the Corvette ad made a big impression on her 9-year-old son, who described it in detail to her after seeing it just once.

''Kids, especially boys, love cars,'' Fennell said. ''There has to be a strong message that a car is not a toy.''

Stone said the ad also was part of a broader problem of auto advertising promoting excessive speed.

''A lot of the auto companies are into speed advertising,'' she said.

''Excessive speeding and aggressive driving have become an epidemic in this country. This is one reason why.''

 

[Larry Shermak]

GM change commercial

Why don't you have Evil Knevil or the Three Stooges drive the car? As long as a kid doesn't, it should be OK. These liberal, tree-hugging, rice burning people have succedded in the first step in taking away the Corvette passion that we all love. They won't be happy until we all drive foreign pieces of crap that don't make a sound. Why don't they pull the South Korean ad for KIA in which they claim that the engineers " Work their FRICKIN' TAILS OFF" ? That's not something I want small children running around saying. I would rather have people dream about American cars than spend a life terrorizing others.

 

[vee93]

It's interesting that this just appeared over Reuters recently. The
other day, I received an email through the site here by a user who requested us to remove that advertisement from TV because of the poor influence it could have on people.

I would like to remind people that normally visit this site, although we work with GM from time to time to bring you articles such as Hib Halverson's C6 Naked and Exposed article, we are NOT an affiliate of General Motors or Chevrolet in any manner, shape or form. We are not employed by General Motors. We do not receive any financial support from General Motors.

If you have a complaint regarding Corvette or any General Motors product, please do not email us with your complaint. There is nothing we can do. You need to contact GM or Chevrolet Customer Service and register your complaint with them.

Last but not least, we do not, under ANY circumstances give out email addresses/contact information to anyone working at General Motors. Please do not contact us requesting to speak to David Hill, or anyone else at General Motors. If you wish to contact any GM employees, please call Chevrolet Customer Assitance.

-Rob Loszewski, Site Administrator
Corvette Action Center
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DETROIT (Reuters) - Protests from seven safety groups prompted General Motors Corp. to pull a television ad that shows a young boy driving a Corvette sports car so recklessly that it goes airborne, officials of the automaker said on Wednesday.

The ad, featuring the Rolling Stones song "Jumpin' Jack Flash," has aired repeatedly during the Olympics. The groups, including Consumers Union and the Center for Auto Safety, complained that it was "the most dangerous" spot they have seen in recent years.

Directed by singer Madonna (news - web sites)'s husband Guy Ritchie, the spot shows a boy's daydream of racing the Corvette through downtown streets and through a construction pipe. The safety groups said in a letter to GM released on Wednesday that the spot could encourage children to take their parents' cars for a drive.

"This ad is certainly among the most dangerous, anti-safety messages to be aired on national television in recent years," the safety groups said in a joint letter sent to GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner. "It is doubtful that General Motors would condone the beer industry showing a "dream sequence" of 10-year-old children having an after-school "kegger,"" the letter said.

The ad does include a warning that drivers should operate the vehicle safely and must have a license, but the automaker decided to stop airing the spot, GM spokesman Joe Jacuzzi said on Wednesday.

"We decided to pull it due to responses and feedback we received," Jacuzzi said. "It's a big ad, and it's been airing for a while, but we've got a whole campaign."

The Corvette ad is one of many spots GM prepared for the Summer Olympics (news - web sites). GM is the largest television advertiser during the Summer Games, spending 10 times more during the Aug. 13-29 Olympics than it typically spends during a comparable period.

The seven groups who signed the letter include Consumers Union, Public Citizen, Center for Auto Safety, Consumer Federation of America and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

Groups have also protested controversial ads or marketing campaigns from other automakers in recent years.

Ford Motor Co. was targeted when an ad showing a cat poking its head through the sunroof of the SportKa, only to be decapitated when the roof closes, found its way onto the Internet. But that spot, which Ford said it never authorized and never aired, is still shown on the Internet, where it has created a buzz.

Chrysler pulled its sponsorship of the "Lingerie Bowl," which featured models in scanty outfits playing football and aired during halftime of the Super Bowl in February.

I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!!!!!!
As a member of the media and knowing first hand the myriad of politically correct opinions that can seemingly overwhelm the neutrality of the press, it comes at no surprise that the Vette ad featuring the kids was pulled.

How COWARDLY of GM to pull the ads!!!!!!!!! Folded like a house of cards. It's fantasy folks! Make believe!!!! I wish to God people would find something better to do.

Common sense would dictate that if any kid takes a car (any car) for a joyride, that kid is a twit and breaking the law AND needs a can-o-whup a** opened up on the backside!!!!!!! It happens EVERY DAY!!!!

SHAME ON YOU GM!!!!!!!!

 

[Extreme HI]

You know, some stupid kid (who was probably going to be eliminated from the gene pool eventually anyway) uses the Vette to fly through the air...
Make it idiot-proof and someone will make a better idiot.

I second that emotion.

I still stay this country is a great place to be. It's a good thing companies don't have to go to the expense and trouble of producing a TV ad and submit it to some group of "advocates" for approval before it's broadcast to a nation of fun-loving mostly-responsible folk. As for anyone who would duplicate something inherently dangerous (stupid), Darwin had a name for that: Natural Selection.
Just be sure to get out of their way...because they ARE out there.:Silly