Adopt-a-Car: NOT!
Gm AdAdopt-a-Car: NOT!
The furor over the GM ad in Sports Illustrated
The 3/18 edition of Sports Illustrated has a special advertising section that begins on page 38. GM has purchased a four page spread which should be numbered pages 51-54. It reads like this
p. 51 A suggestion to all those who didn't give birth to an Alll-American
p52-53 (top has 1996 NCAA Basketball Bracket at top and across the bottom a photo of an Aurora with a single word... "Adopt"
p54 "Petition to Adopt. In the Superior Court of the Great State of Michigan. In the matter of (drawing of the car). Name: Aurora. Serial #: xxxxxxx,. Birthplace: Lansing, MI. Height: 55.4 in. Weight: 3967 lb. Skin: Silver Teal Metallic. Eyes: clear. Feet: 16x7. Engine Type: 32 valve DOHC 90 V8. Horsepower: 250 @5600 RPM
I/We_____ do hereby respectfully submit this request to adopt the said automobile described above on this, _____, 1996, at the hours of _____. I/We have read and understood the rules as stated in the owner's manual. In doing so, we interpret our rights as the parental unit to be inclusive, but not limited to providing the following: 1. Visitation rights to the birthparents during scheduled maintenance. 2. A strict feeding regimen of quality fuels. 3. Frequent car washes. 4. Sunday drives. 5. Niucknames. 6. An environment where all actions considered excessive or compulsive under normal circumstances are deemed acceptable.
I/We have read and accept the above-stated terms of ownership and understand that further small print of this type will soon be presented to me in the form of a lease or purchase agreement, license plat registration and potential requests for talk show appearances. Demand better. Aurora by Oldsmobile. Oldsmobile: official car for NCAA Championships."
Well, of course we need to do something about this, and, thanks to Central Indiana adoptive parent Debbie Schmitt's phone calls, here's some of the scoop on who to contact re the GM ad (in addition to a letter to the editor of Sports Illustrated, of course):
wordwide web site for GM does not contain an Oldsmobile link, but go fishing at http://www.gm.com/index.htm
Jerry Card
Director of Advertising
Oldsmobile Div GM
920 Townsend
Lansing MI 48921
517-377-5660
John Rock
General Manager
Oldsmobile Div GM
(same address)
Jack Smith, General Manager
General Motors Corporation
3044 W Grand Blvd
Detroit MI 48202
(313)556-5000
Still trying to find out who the ad agency is.
The advertising director at the agency that actually developed the ad. from Cynthia Peck
His name is: BOB WISNIESKI, at the Leo Burnett Agency
35 W. Whacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60601.
Go get 'em!
The following letter was forwarded by Cynthia Peck
76262.354@compuserve.com
March 20, 1996
ROOTS & WINGS Adoption Magazine
PO Box 638
Chester, NJ 07930
Jerry Card, Advertising Director
Oldsmobile Division of General Motors
920 Townsend
Lansing, MI 48921
Dear Mr. Card:
I am an adoptive parent of nine youngsters ages 14-26. Eight were adopted internationally, and each, rest assured is an American and a true champion. One of my sons, a college junior adopted from Korea at age two, just brought home the March 18th issue of Sports Illustrated Magazine. As I thumbed through it, I was drawn to the four page center spread that began, "A suggestion to all those who didn't give birth to an All-American..." My curiosity turned to horror as I read how the purchasing and "parenting" of an "All-American" automobile was compared to the loving act of adopting and nurturing a child.
Really, Mr. Card, in your capacity as GM's advertising director, I "demand better" of you and of General Motors. Such an insensitive way of engaging readers reflects a cavalier attitude and societal ignorance that diminishes you as an advertising leader. In my capacity as partner in an international adoption agency and as the publisher of one of the two largest adoption magazines in this country, I shall do everything in my power to alert adoptive parents and interested professionals to your wreckless comparison so they, too, can share their reactions to the ad if they so choose.
Where does the proverbial buck stop on this kind of advertising? For me, it stops just short of my checkbook and the door of the local GM showroom!
Sincerely,
Cynthia V. N. Peck
EDITOR/PUBLISHER
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