GM Hearts the Olympics (and All Its Commercial Possibilities)

Mike Solowiow
by Mike Solowiow

The Olympics kicked off Friday in Beijing, with a bright beige, smog-filled sky, intense pyrotechnics, and some incredibly impressive artistic performances by the Chinese. I missed nearly all of it due to preparation for my upcoming Iraq deployment, so I ran into my apartment, threw my flight gear into the corner and flipped on the TV to grab what was left of the Opening Ceremonies, Instead, I watched a tribute to the GM brand in rabbit-eared-fuzzy glory. Brandi Carlile belted out "The Story" as the redundant seemingly endless range of GM vehicles paraded across the screen. I got choked up, not because of the truly good GM products they displayed (CTS, Enclave, Camaro), but because the Volt concept was shown, still with a debut date of 2010. As the tag line, "Something Shiny, Blue, and Beautiful" flashed across the screen under the GM logo, I wondered if GM still thinks a well-done commercial tugging our heartstrings and a vehicle powered by hope and pixie dust will actually restore faith destroyed by three decades of lousy products and service. Then immediately after, a local ad proclaiming $10k off new Suburbans blared out, blasting the Velcro patches off my flight suit. My sense of reality was restored. GM, you can do it. I've seen glimpses of it. I've driven it. But don't think you can erase all the bad times with sentimentality and soft-focus screen shots. Make it happen in cold, harsh daylight reality. But thanks anyways for supporting our Olympic athletes.


Mike Solowiow
Mike Solowiow

More by Mike Solowiow

Comments
Join the conversation
 4 comments
  • Stephan Wilkinson Stephan Wilkinson on Aug 11, 2008

    GM has just announced that it is dropping its sponsorship of the Olympics as of the end of 2008. Too expensive, too little return...

  • GE Levecque GE Levecque on Aug 11, 2008

    GM Canada still supports the Winter 2010 Games in Vancouver B.C. as far as I have heard!

  • Redbarchetta Redbarchetta on Aug 11, 2008

    I missed this during the opening ceremonies, along with most of it. Was the Volt moving under it's own power, being pushed or just sitting there as a display? Are they going to flog the concept up until the day the production model is shown, or even after that?

  • Toxicroach Toxicroach on Aug 11, 2008

    I'm slightly annoyed they haven't updated the Volt look in the commercials. They've said they've changed the body to make it more aerodynamic, but here they are plugging away with an old image that will just confuse people once the new body comes out.

Next