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GM Petrified? Automaker Drops Survivor Sponsorship

Earlier today, General Motors announced that's it's ending its 6-year sponsorship of the CBS reality show, Survivor, saying it needs to shift its media dollars from prime-time to live sports and award shows. Officials insist the announcment has nothing to do with the show's controversial new format that divides contestants by race.That struggling GM needs to rethink its strategy on all fronts is understandable. That the announcement comes today, in the midst of protests over the show? Their denial has a familiar ring.

Remember last year when that other ailing car company, Ford, pulled its ads for Jaguar and Land Rovers from gay publications, right around the time when anti-gay-rights groups were threatening a boycott of the company? Ford insisted their decision was strictly about numbers, advertising, the bottom line.

Then a week later the company reversed its decision, making its earlier denials sound downright absurd. In this case GM could, even if its decision is totally unrelated, use this opportunity to highlight the importance of diversity in the workplace, to say something in acknowledgment of the controversy, however reality show-esque, that is unfolding. This was a sliver of a chance for GM to stand for something other than a tanking business, I mean, could it kill them to mention their diversity program?

The American public is tired of denials in such announcements, and there was potential for nobility in this one (as opposed to Ford's cowardice) that might have even distracted folks from a company that is creeping further afield, and that is becoming less and less of a survivor.

Posted by Elizabeth Gettelman on 08/30/06 at 9:43 PM | E-mail | Print

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