Chrysler's Bailout Backlash

Here's a PR move that caused some unanticipated backlash. Chrysler, the recipient of 4 BILLION DOLLARS in bailout/bridge loans, decided to thank America. A nice gesture to say the least. However, it doesn't seem that Americans were very open to the thanks.

As it turns out, Chrysler placed full page "Thank You America" ads in newspapers across the country including USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. This is where the tomato and other produce flinging begins. It seems that the forced investors tax paying Americans didn't like the expense or the delivery of the campaign.

Over at the Chrysler blog, readers are not holding anything back. Comments like, Mr. Nardelli "Your resignation and the resignations of senior executives who have mismanaged the business would have been much more appropriate." and "Mr Nardelli, Fire your PR and advertising teams and execs immediately" seem to be the norm from the readers.

To put this into perspective, a full color, full page ad in the Wall Street Journal is about $250,000. A figure that is much more than the average taxpayer's salary.

A big BOOOO goes out to Chrysler for not having a "Thank You" press conference or publishing heartfelt letters to the various media sources and blogs. Hey Chrysler, just repay your loan as quickly as you can so we can get on with our recession will ya.

My thoughts: Thumbs up for the effort. Thumbs down for the execution.

Your thoughts?

 

"What I Found In My Email" Mondays. Vol.2 - Issue 28

Welcome to another, and long over due, edition of "What I found in my email Monday's." I know what your thinking - it's Tuesday. I know, I know but I really meant to post this yesterday.

I once heard a gender based driving assessment from an insurance agent. He said there are distinct differences in the types of claims between men and women. It seems that when men get into a wreck, they really GET INTO A WRECK. Meaning that men will destroy their car in one single catastrophic event. Women on the other hand will destroy their car one little piece at a time. A ding here, a dent there, knocking off a mirror, dragging along the side of the garage whilst backing out.

However the gentleman that perpetrated the caper featured below, falls into a completely different category. What category you ask? I don't know yet, but I am formulating it as we continue.

Here's the story:

An elementary school teacher ran over a mattress that had flipped out of a truck. Thankful that he didn't get into a wreck, he decided to keep going. Little was he aware that he had picked up a hitch hiker. As it turns out the coils from the mattress got tangled up and wrapped themselves around the drive shaft. The ensuing jumble finally whipped around enough to put a tear in the gas tank, the subsequent lack of fuel is what finally brought this vehicle to its knees.

He still managed to drive 30 more miles decently with a 60lb tangle wrapped around the drive shaft.

This genius complained that the vehicle had a "shimmy" when driving at high speeds.

This is what the dealership found







Have a great Christmas and a happy New Year everyone!

 

The Next Round Of Bailouts

I just read on AutoBlog.com that Bush has decided to greenlight the "$17.4 billion in low-interest loans to General Motors and Chrysler (Ford Motor Company has said it does not require relief at this time)." Props to Ford!

At this time I would like to extend a very special thank you to the UAW. Thanks for not supporting a reduction in the wage rages for those you represent (sarcasm intended).

For years we have seen inexpensive and high quality import cars flooding into America. These cars are built by hard working individuals for about 1/2 of what US union auto workers are paid. I don't understand how simple economics has escaped the big 3. If you are paying too much for labor which causes you to no longer be competitive in a market, why aren't you allowed to cut wages?

But let's also focus on the R&D and marketing efforts of the big US automakers. The way I see it, the US car manufacturers had a choice a while back. They could either research, develop and market fuel efficient vehicles OR they could have picked a different route. The alternate route was the one they ventured down.

"Hey, I got an idea, let's make the biggest, most inefficient vehicles that we can muster (Hummer, Suburbans, Escalades, Excursions, The Hemi, etc) and when gas peaks out at four something a gallon, let's panic."

The pain of $4 gas caused an almost overnight shift in consumer behavior. Unprecedented by most standards, this shift in buying patterns and lifestyle choices happened fast and will take a long time to change, if at all. People won't soon forget the $4 pain at the pump and have made changes in their driving and buying patterns that will last for quite some time.

Now that car dealer across the country have HUGE, unpaid inventory of trucks and SUVs that aren't moving, the juice on the floor plan is putting some out of business.

Granted, this isn't free money. The $17.4 Billion is in the form of low interest loans. But I ask, where do we draw the line? How big do you have to be to get bailout money from the Government? What about the lifeblood of our economy, small businesses? I am sure there are plenty of small to medium sized companies that are feeling the recession pain. $17.4 billion would go a long way if small businesses were allowed to get up to $500,000 in low interest loans. This means that 34,800 small to medium business would be able partake in a similar loan program that, in my opinion, would go much further in stimulating the economy.

I wonder how many people are employed by 34,800 small to medium businesses across the country. AND how much in taxes do those same businesses pay? Am I being ignorant or naive? Do you know of any small businesses that could use 500 large?

What are your thoughts on this whole deal?

Have a great weekend everyone.

 

The Digital Revolution

Yes, there were a couple of snags with the big switchover but I think we are going to make it through just fine.

 

S'more Really Old Ads

I just love the ads of yesterday. Features that were promoted as the latest and greatest are, by today's standards, obsolete or insignificant. Trends in society that are seen as distasteful today were prominent subject matter. Old ads featured technology that was "the wave of the future." In reality, most of the "tech" never really caught on. Although it is still happening today, (HD-DVD) it's nice to look back and see where we came from in the world of advertising.

I received the ads below in an email from my brother. I want to make sure I give credit where credit is due. As you can see, most of them are marked with www.strangecosmos.com, so I can only assume that they come from that site.


How nice, a carton of Chesterfields for Christmas. The perfect gift. Today, if you received a carton of smokes for Christmas, they probably wouldn't be wrapped, they would probably be Marlboro Lights and you probably had them stashed by the wheel chocks of your double wide.



Lard = Happy. I know this because I eat a can a week. Is this why they were so healthy back then?



I really had to study this ad to understand what was going on. It wasn't long after this before someone invented the pull top. You know the one where you pulled it completely off, threw it in the can and choked on it as you were slamming the beer?



Yep, tapeworms. Normally they are a bad thing to get. However, when they are "sanitized," THEN they are OK. This ad brings back memories. My mom actually had an original copy of this ad framed and hanging above the vanity in the bathroom. I almost had it memorized as a kid. I had completely forgotten about it until I saw it in the email. "Jar Packed - Easy to swallow - No danger - No ill effects."



I really debated including this one because of the nature of the ad, but I think it is a prime example of how the "AD Men" marketed products to women. I mean are you kidding me? Lysol as a personal hygiene product. I would be curious to find out what magazine this was featured in. I have seen many similar ads featuring a wide variety of products and advice come from magazines like The Ladies Home Journal.

So there you have it. Another look back at some ads featuring out-of-date values, ideology, technology and gender rolls.

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Christmas Lights

Wheww!!

I just finished putting my Christmas lights up. What a chore!

If you need any help with yours, just give me a call. I think I have it down.

 

What Kind of Person Are You?

"They" say that you can tell what type of personality you have by the way you write. To that I offer a sarcastic, "No Kidding?"

Yesterday a buddy sent me a link to Typealyzer. What is it you ask? Well, it's a neat little tool that analyzes your writing style and builds a personality profile based on how you write. All you have to do is enter your blog address and Typealyzer will do the rest.

So what did it say about me? It says that I am: "The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment and are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.

The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters"

Wow, that is pretty amazing. It is so close it's scary.

Enter your blog and let me know how close it is to your own personality.

 

Bloody Tryptophan - I am still tired.

Honestly, it's not the turkey, it's probably because I am out of shape and I did a lot of "lumber jacking" this weekend. Hefting large amounts of wood aside, all in all it was a great weekend to get away with family and relax.

Now that we've got the Thanksgiving traditions out of the way, Black Friday is behind us and the pumpkin pie is but a fond memory, we can start focusing on the commercial consumer success that we call Christmas. Yeah, I know, I can be a little "bah hum buggy" at times but I won't go there, this is supposed to be a happy time right?

Fine! Here's something that we can all get behind. It's Santa and his fictitious journey to deliver presents to deserving little bundles of joy everywhere. And guess what? NORAD, the North American Defense Command, is tracking the, jolly, fat man's progress. On Christmas Eve, there will be live video feeds from the Santa Cams around the world with Google Maps and Google Earth plotting the course.

"The tradition of tracking Santa began as an accident in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. ad for children to call Santa misprinted the phone number. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check radar for Santa making his way south from the North Pole.

This began the tradition of tracking Santa Claus, a tradition that has carried on by NORAD, when it was formed in 1958. This Christmas marks the 50th anniversary of NORAD tracking Santa Claus.

Last year the NORAD Tracks Santa Web site received 10.6 million unique visitors from 212 countries and territories." via

If you are not doing anything on Christmas Eve, make sure you log on and see when Santa in going to be in your neighborhood.