Today's Washington Examiner reports that Chrysler aired the longest Super Bowl advertisement in history yesterday. The ad is supposed to have cost 'less than $9 million' according to CEO Sergio Marchionne. At the same time, Chrysler is seeking a 'better deal' on its government loans.
The article states:
"That's right: Chrysler took $15 billion from taxpayers, to which it wasn't entitled, and at an industry convention its CEO calls taxpayers a word that is defined as "someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way, especially in the practice of law, politics and used car sales." Message received: "Taxpayers' money saved a car company from bankruptcy and all they got was this lousy Super Bowl commercial."
"And what a commercial. Chrysler turns to America to say that because Detroit has been "through hell and back" it has endured the "hottest fires which makes the hardest steel," and that the reason people don't know that is because newspaper reporters "don't know what [people in Detroit] are capable of.""
There are a few problems with Chrysler's claims about its current situation. First of all, the government program that allowed Chrysler to avoid bankruptcy broke many of the country's existing bankruptcy laws--the unions were given preference over the preferred stockholders and there were other financial irregularities. Second of all, Detroit is not at all out of the woods, and third, the article says that newspaper reporters do know what Detroit is capable of and also can see a potential for good things in the future for the city.
Anyway, I love the quote, "Taxpayers' money saved a car company from bankruptcy and all they got was this lousy Super Bowl commercial." Good grief!
Leave a comment