Comcast Pulls Ad: New GM Up to Old Tricks?
I started TTAC’s General Motors Death Watch in the summer of ’05, after the automaker pulled tens of millions of dollars in advertising from the LA Times. GM was pissed at a Dan Neil Pontiac review that called for an executive cull. While I’d been predicting bankruptcy for The General long before that point, the automaker’s bully-boy tactics against this country’s finest carmudgeon was the final straw. GM was free to pull its ads. And I was free to start the Death Watch. The rest, as they say, is history. Only maybe not so fast.
The Washington Post reports that Comcast has pulled a TV ad by The Ad Hoc Committee of Consumer Victims of GM and Chrysler, a group of consumers seeking to stop “New” GM from walking away from “Old” GM’s product liability. “We have temporarily stopped airing the ad while we conduct a review of the claims it makes,” Comcast spokesman Chris Ellis said. TTAC will contact the Committee, Mr. Ellis and GM today.
Meanwhile, this looks like déjà vu all over again. If so, we remind the publicly-owned automaker that it’s one thing to debate issues in open court and it’s another to silence your critics through intimidation. GM CEO Fritz Henderson promised transparency. TTAC intends to keep him at his word.
Oh, and where’s that list of closed GM dealers Mr. Henderson and Senator Rockefeller? You know, the one you promised to release to the public? Guess I’ve got a busy morning ahead.
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Whats that saying about a leopard never changes its spots. They are simply doing what they have always done. Which is also why GM ultimately will fail yet again this time liquidation.
I'm never going to buy a GM or Chrysler/Fiat product nor do I own any so I don't give a Barney Frank about their legal battles or liabilities. I just wish we all had a say in giving them a tractor trailer sized loan to keep the UAW employed.
If Comcast pulled the spot and you haven't received comment from GM, isn't it somewhat fraudulent to claim that GM was behind the ad being pulled? After all, this is Comcast, and they've been known to do some strange things. Hell, maybe they're afraid they could be involved in some sort of lawsuit for libel or something if they let such an ad run on their network.