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With the price of gasoline topping $4 a gallon, is it any wonder the GM is looking for ways to show angry consumers that it's going green?
The car company announced this week that it will begin a new advertising campaign announcing its breakup with "Big Oil."
The campaign consists of a televised Dear John letter to the oil companies:
"We’ve had this great relationship for many years," the letter states. "We think we will both be a lot happier and healthier if we see less of each other."
The McCann-Erickson creation will appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on June 22, Katherine Benoit, corporate marketing director at GM told a group at the American Advertising Federation meeting, Advertising Age reported.
Does spending thousands of dollars to create a clever PR campaign mean GM is serious about going green? Will a "Dear John" letter to Big Oil help convince disgruntled motorists that this environmental push is for real?
Everyone wants to be seen as green these days, but green strategies can backfire if there is nothing real to the claim. There in lies the problem: GM has no real alternative to gas-guzzling vehicles, at least an alternative that has gone mainstream.
If Toyota had launched the Dear John letter and signed it "yours truly, Prius," the campaign would make more sense.
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I have to think today's media would have uncovered all or most of this WAY before Abe was even handed this questionnaire...
Comments (4)
Looks like GM may be having second thoughts after all.
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/18/gm-may-not-break-up-with-big-oil-on-tv-after-all/
Posted by The Goose | June 18, 2008 8:29 AM
Posted on June 18, 2008 08:29
Thanks, Goose. Great points, all.
Mark
Posted by Mark Ragan | June 16, 2008 9:11 AM
Posted on June 16, 2008 09:11
It would have been nice to see someone from GM jump in here. Since they didn't, I will. It's easy to point the finger at GM, just like it's easy to blame Wal-Mart for many problems.
But to say that GM has no "real alternative to gas guzzling vehicles" is not accurate. GM offers 23 different vehicles that achieve 30 mpg or greater. They may not have the flash of the Prius but they do offer 4 different hybrid vehicles (Chevy Malibu, Saturn Vue, Saturn Aura and Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon). And don't forget the acclaimed Chevy Volt, scheduled to be released in 2010, which is an electric vehicle with an innovative rechargeable electric drive system that runs on electricity, gasoline, E85 or biodiesel. The Volt, unlike the Prius, can run gasoline-free.
All auto manufacturers are guilty of being slaves to big oil. Credit to Toyota for developing the Prius and giving it a Hollywood reuputation but all of those R&D dollars came from the sale of their large SUVs and pickups.
So GM is taking a chance, but they are demonstrating their effort to finally listen to the marketplace and consumers.
Posted by The Goose | June 15, 2008 7:39 PM
Posted on June 15, 2008 19:39
Greenwashing. A term to describe "Big Companies" who wave the "green" flag to be seen as environmentally conscious and responsible. I'm not staking any claims that GM is indeed greenwashing because they may indeed be sincere. Maybe they will only manufacture cars that run on E85 gas or jump head first into hybrids. Who knows?
However, there are so many companies that use unfounded green claims to reel in unsuspecting consumers who they believe merely look for labels on products or do not research a company's green claims. To those companies, please rework your sustainability strategy as consumers are becoming more and more savvy and sophisticated, and can see through the veil of greenwashing.
Posted by PDBlack | June 13, 2008 6:44 PM
Posted on June 13, 2008 18:44