GM, give us a car we can afford, not an ad blitz

Shipka Says...

By Mike Shipka

We all know ‘em, and everyone has one. They’re made fun of on sitcoms, and they share a name with the dirtiest utensil in the kitchen. That friend who’s always “borrowing” your money, then it mysteriously disappears, a.k.a, the sponge.


If one lazy bum is a sponge, then that must make GM (Government Motors) a wet-dry vacuum, capable of sucking up 40 times its weight in sewage while using enough power to electrify a small village, and making enough noise to deafen small animals.

I have a riddle for you: Government Motors is bailed out for around $50 billion. After two years of conducting business, (and still carrying the heavy burden that is the notorious stereotype of expensive and unreliable American vehicles), they produce 11 different ads for Chevrolet in an attempt to aid their public image.

Five of those ads ran during the Superbowl, where 30 seconds of airtime reportedly averages $3 million. GM ran a total of 60 seconds for Camaro, 30 seconds for Cruze Eco, 30 seconds for Silverado, and 30 seconds for (their next flop) Volt, for a grand total of 150 seconds. Assuming no volume discount, that means they dropped at least $15 million.

Not factoring in the costs of writers, actors, production studio services and celebrity endorsements to produce all five commercials, how many jobs could they have created with that $15 million-plus they blew in one night?

Not enough, that’s how many. In this day and age, where bailouts come with at least nine zeros, $15 million is chump change in comparison. But it’s not about what they spent, it’s where they spent it. If the sponge wants to change his (or her) reputation, actions speak louder than words. So far, it seems their mouths say, “We changed,” but their products say, “Not by much.”

Moreover, why do they need a commercial in the first place? The $50 billion in taxpayer dollars was more than enough to remind us that they are here and they make cars. They are one of the flagships of American auto manufacturing. They should be providing the best quality product, at the best price, to the American people who bailed them out.

Henry Ford, the man responsible for practically pioneering the American auto industry, must be turning over in his grave. In 1920, the Ford Motor Company was able to crank out a Model T car in under 93 minutes, selling them for only $300 – the same as $3,400 in 2010. Imagine getting a new Ford Focus or Buick Sabre even for under $10,000. It’s unfathomable. A 2011 Chevy Malibu is around $21,000.

Now, yes, I understand that cars today are a lot more sophisticated and therefore more expensive, but my question is why? The 2001 Buick Century is awesome. For only $8,000 used (with 30,000 miles), it will get you where you need to go. Why do we (new drivers, teens) need enough safety equipment and horsepower to bomb down I-95 at 120 mph? In this failing economy, affordability and reliability is king.

There is no reason GM can’t put down the bells and whistles of OnStar, Microsoft Sync and integrated GPS to focus on the more important issues: making cars that outlive Japan’s; making cars more efficient by not weighing them down with unneeded equipment; saving lives with simple solutions like automatic seat belts (which is old technology); and paying back the citizens who saved them.