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Boing Boing: GM ads smear public transit -- again
GM ads smear public transit -- again
General Motors, a company that gutted many of America's great cities by pressuring local governments to eliminate public transit in the 20th century, is running ads in a local Vancouver paper that calls transit riders "CREEPS & WEIRDOS." Another ad complains about the odor of the subway. Between Los Angeles's smog, Aussie brushfires and Middle East wars, I think we can say with confidence that GM's last kick at the public transit can incurred a debt to the human race the company could never repay. Hard to believe they've got the chutzpah to go at it again. Guess they've got nothing to lose.
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This is unbelievable. Vancouver (where the ads ran) is so unbelievably screwed without public transit. Things are already getting messy, especially in the suburbs.
That's it. From now on, I will never buy another GM vehicle. Hah. As if. There is no way I would willingly buy an American car.
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Way to go. I'm glad you posted this. GM (as well as most American auto manufacturers) have a terrible history in regards to environmental concerns, innovation, etc. I drive a '91 Acura that gets better mileage than a lot of much newer GM cars.
I actually heard some rants on the radio here in BC about this. Obviously, the negative publicity has worked -- Boing Boing says the Pres of GM Canada wrote an apology. And that the ad won't be run anymore.
Ads are made to affect gullible people who don't think about their consumer decisions, but are led by images and associations. Funding public education and encouraging people to think for themselves is a bad thing for corporations.
As for myself: I rather share a bus ride with a "weirdo" than face the threat of being run over by a ruthless driver in a private automobile.
Man, did GM ever mess up their characterization. Clearly they want to slag the real bus riders, the eco-geeks and relatively poor people, such as students. Demeaning them (us) will be great for business. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. And I was just complaining about the lack of content in car ads, silly me.
I take a bus daily to get to work and back. Have done so all throughout High School and at UVic, and all 8 months at Nortel. I'd almost hesitate to say that I've spent more of my of-age life on a bus than in a car, but I don't think so.
Of late, I've started to wonder - of commercial and consumer advertising, which do I hate more? It must be consumer advertising, which is so pervasive and emphasizes waste being OK, as well as all the sex they try to associate with various products. Gum, cars, body spray, other shite.
the bus says "Wet Dog Smell".
Agreed. I am starting to get to the point where I have to restrain myself from kicking the cars that cut me off in intersections when I am *crossing the street*.
Maybe if I spit on them they will get the point...
Should have seen the faces on the ladies walking behind me when they heard the noise. They thought I got hit... :) But regardless... I got cut off as a pedestrian by cabs so many times I just started to kick the rear quarter panel, I'm certain I'll do it here sometime too.
Mark used to take the bus to work.. I think there are Creeps & Weirdos on the bus.... :) -- Not all Creeps & Weirdos are bad though.
Yes, there are some strange people who ride the bus. I just get upset with GM's fight against public transportation. I think that's why the rise of the SVU -- can't really argue against the fact that you need a car to go offroading in. Although, when tree-planting, we did all pile into these things with six tires where each tire was something like 20' tall.
Kate and I almost got run over by cell-phone-powersuit-lady-in-her-SUV. And this was at a red light on a cross-walk -- she was just going too fast, so couldn't/wouldn't stop until she was halfway over the stop line. All the pedestrians gave her dirty looks, but she obviously didn't get it, or that she had done anything wrong at all.