Automakers have always been some of the biggest marketers around. Obviously this year it’s a bit different: it’s hard to blow billions on advertising when you head to Washington - and corporate jets, mind you - and ask for a $25B bailout (”it’s a loan”). Today they’re emailing clients and getting them to do their bidding.
But this begs the question: if the media did not historically rely on the billions in advertising dollars that carmakers generally spend, would they be more harsh? I don’t know. But it’s a good question to ask.
In fact, I think they are hoping that their billions in ad spend will at least silence the critics. I would imagine “thought leaders” to come out against this, with guns blazing, but the tone from writers and journalists is actually quite calm or non-existent, it seems that it’s the unexpected who are doling out the criticism. For example, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (whose father was a politician in Michigan!) came out against any bailout. Bye-bye Michigan’s electoral votes, by the way, come 2012. But the truth is I respect him more for it: the bailout is a bad idea much like the financial bailout was a bad idea.
Meanwhile, we pause for this announcement from our sponsors:
This message has been brought to you by the Socialist States of America, bailing out one industry at a time.
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