Killjoy Was Here, Part Two

GM Pulls 'Jack Flash' Corvette Ad

By Michael Ellis

DETROIT (Reuters) - Protests from seven safety groups prompted General Motors Corp. to pull a television ad that shows a young boy driving a Corvette sports car so recklessly that it goes airborne, officials of the automaker said on Wednesday.

::sigh::

One of the Olympic NON-gripes I have had is this commercial. I love it, Reba loves it, and my kids love it. The kids especially love it because they have the emotional maturity and understanding required to know that IT'S A FRIGGIN' DREAM! But, in order to satisfy the Safety Nannies, I would also like to request that Peter Pan be pulled from circulation in all its forms, as it promotes the idea that children can fly without the aid of a Corvette.

Morons.

By the way, the car is not driven so recklessly--as far as I can tell, it is driven by a stunt driver who knows a heck of a lot about cars. Excellent work, whoever you are.

Directed by singer Madonna's husband Guy Ritchie, the spot shows a boy's daydream of racing the Corvette through downtown streets and through a construction pipe. The safety groups said in a letter to GM released on Wednesday that the spot could encourage children to take their parents' cars for a drive.

"This ad is certainly among the most dangerous, anti-safety messages to be aired on national television in recent years," the safety groups said in a joint letter sent to GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner. "It is doubtful that General Motors would condone the beer industry showing a "dream sequence" of 10-year-old children having an after-school "kegger,"" the letter said.

Apples to monkeys, you simps. By the way, I wonder if they'll decide to go after all the beer manufacturers who imply that their product makes you thin, young, and attractive. Talk about DANGEROUS! Ask the man who's woken up after a long night of wearing beer goggles. (Not me, though.)

Anyway, I doubt these groups are much interested in anything other than acting tough. For this reason, I think it perfectly reasonable for them to be lined up to star in safety-related ads as crash test dummies. Maybe several could be landed on by a Corvette driven by a daydreaming kid to show just how horrible it would be to be landed on by a car driven by a daydreaming kid. Sorta like Dorothy's house landing on the Wicked Witch of the East. Man, that would put the fear of dreaming into ANYone!

The ad does include a warning that drivers should operate the vehicle safely and must have a license, but the automaker decided to stop airing the spot, GM spokesman Joe Jacuzzi said on Wednesday.

"We decided to pull it due to responses and feedback we received," Jacuzzi said. "It's a big ad, and it's been airing for a while, but we've got a whole campaign."

In other words, 'we got plenty of publicity already, and don't really want to get into this whole "defense of the sanctity of art" thing, since that only works if it's naked pictures of Guy Ritchie's wife.'

I tell you what, people are something.


(In an intersting side note, August 25, 1966 is the date: "Mick crashes his Aston Martin car near his Harley House flat. Neither he nor his girlfriend Chrissie Shrimpton are hurt but the car is in need of a 700 pound-makeover.")

{And just what is a "cross-fire hurricane"? Seems like that would bave been more appropriate for the 1982 Vette. Or the Chrysler Crossfire.}

[And Joe Jacuzzi!? Is he related to Joe Isuzu?]
posted by Terry at 2:27:00 PM