Suicide-prevention group criticizes GM ad
 

Such a fragile society we live in… Don't do that, can't do this, and don’t even think about trying that, you might offend someone… Sad, very sad.

Check out some of the comments at the bottom of the article on the website, there funny as hell…

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...ESS01/70208020

Suicide-prevention group criticizes GM ad
February 8, 2007

By BRUCE HOROVITZ

USA TODAY

Yet another Super Bowl marketer is swimming in hot water.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has sent a letter to General Motors criticizing an ad that shows a perfectionist assembly line robot dreaming about jumping off a bridge after dropping a bolt. The group said the spot may encourage people to consider suicide as a solution to their problems. The group demanded that GM apologize, not air the spot again and remove it from its Web site.

"We wouldn't see this ad around cancer or heart disease," says Robert Gebbia, executive director. "Why's it OK to make fun of mental illness or depression?"

The letter comes two days after Masterfoods, maker of Snickers, said it would not re-air its Super Bowl ad and took it off its Web site. Some gay activists had objected, saying the response of two men in the ad to their accidental kiss was homophobic.

Despite these objections, controversy over this year's ads pales compared with what happened after Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during halftime of the 2004 Super Bowl. That sparked debate over broadcast decency that engulfed the ads and 540,000 consumer complaints to the Federal Communications Commission.

Several marketers took flak for the decency of their ads. Among them was Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser), the game's biggest advertiser. CEO August Busch IV apologized and said A-B would rethink the tone and content of its ads. Several companies' ads have not been seen again.

In the years since, Super Bowl marketers, who this year paid up to $2.6 million for 30 seconds of time, have faced closer examination of their ads. In the Internet age, Super Bowl ads are seen by millions more eyeballs, and criticism is instant.

"Super Bowl advertising is the ultimate stage," says Renee White Fraser, an advertising psychologist. "You get a higher level of scrutiny."

GM has "no plans" to drop the robot spot, spokeswoman Ryndee Carney says. The ad is scheduled to air next during the Feb. 25 Academy Awards broadcast on ABC, she says.

GM has received "more than a handful (of complaints) but not a tsunami," she says. She says GM "did not intend to offend anyone."

GM should drop the ad now, says former Energy secretary Donald Hodel, who also was Interior secretary in the Reagan administration. Hodel's teenage son committed suicide 23 years ago.

"They should never have run that commercial, and they shouldn't run it again," says Hodel, who says he and his wife were shocked when they saw it. "If I had a child who committed suicide some time after watching that ad, I'd seriously consider consulting a lawyer and suing GM."

I hate political correctness, if a commercial makes you want to kill yourself you have bigger problems and you shouldnt be watching TV. You should be in rehab.

I heard that on the radio today, what a joke.
Great ad by GM BTW :cool:

its a dam robot if that makes you think you should off your self you need far more help and meds. WTF????????????????????????????:iono: :confused:

Good one.:thumbsup:

I was waiting for someone to complain on that one.

oh please. To me that was the best one.

welcome to the society of you offended me shame on you.

I liked that one also. ;)

As stated above, if you're that easily moved towards suicide from a commercial, in front of a TV isn't where you should be.

I'm so tired of these groups/individuals out there who are just waiting to complain/file suits over commercials, etc.. :mad:

Why don't all these damn groups find something worth while to bitch about. I am so feed up with all this BS. :mad:

GM caved, those sissies...:bs:

GM to edit Super Bowl ad with robot's suicidal dream
February 9, 2007

By DAVID RUNK

ASSOCIATED PRESS

General Motors Corp. said Friday it has agreed to edit a Super Bowl ad that drew criticism from a suicide prevention group for showing a quality-obsessed robot jumping off a bridge in a dream sequence after messing up on the job.

The world’s largest automaker previously said it had no plans to change the spot, which is making the rounds online and is featured on the company’s Web site. The ad made its broadcast debut during Sunday’s big game.

But GM spokesman John M. McDonald said the company agreed to change the ad after discussing concerns about it with the New York-based American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

The ad is expected to air again after the changes are made, but a date hasn’t been set, McDonald said. He declined to describe what would be changed.

Robert Gebbia, the foundation’s executive director, said any reference to suicide was expected to be removed. He said the agreement came after the foundation spoke with GM executives Friday morning about its concerns.

“GM is being very responsive,” Gebbia said.

The ad, called “Robot,” opens with the machine in question dropping a screw while working on a GM assembly line. It’s kicked out of the plant and finds work waving a “Condos for Sale” sign and holding up a speaker at a fast-food joint, all the while appearing saddened by watching shiny, new GM vehicles drive by.

As the Eric Carmen song “All By Myself” plays in the background, the despondent robot leaps off a bridge toward the water below, only to wake up inside the darkened factory — waking up from its dream.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention said it started getting complaints the day after the ad aired.

GM says the robot ad was designed to show the company’s obsession with quality, highlighting its enhanced powertrain warranty of five years or 100,000 miles on all new light-duty vehicles starting with 2007 models. Part of the ad was filmed at GM’s Lansing Grand River assembly plant, which builds Cadillacs.