A ton of commentary has been levelled at GM's Chevy Tahoe team over its Apprentice-linked effort to let customers assemble their own TV commercials. AdRants, eyes are rolling over the notion that anyone could construe the campaign as positive. (After reading a Fastlane blog:
Early on we made the decision that if we were to hold this contest, in which we invite anyone to create an ad, in an open forum, that we would be summarily destroyed in the blogosphere if we censored the ads based on their viewpoint. So, we adopted a position of openness and transparency, and decided that we would welcome the debate. (As an aside, we have been truly disappointed by the number of submissions we had to filter out because of their vulgar content.) I won't bore you with the details, but the overwhelming majority of the 22,000 submissions thus far have been earnest attempts at creating positive advertisements We at GM are not culturally unaware; we realize that there are people who would never purchase an SUV. That's why we make more vehicles that get over 30 miles-per-gallon than any other manufacturer. That is why Chevy offers vehicles ranging from the Aveo (starting under $10,000, 34mpg) to the Tahoe ($34,000, 22mpg). In short, we make vehicles that serve the needs for customers of all walks of life and we're proud of that. So, a few media pundits seem to think this social media program was a failure and others seem to revel in the apparent anarchy. We, on the other hand, welcome the opportunity to clarify the facts regarding fuel economy, vehicles equipped with E85 capability, and consumer choice. In our opinion, this has been one of the most creative and successful promotions we have done. And we invite you back to see the final "Board Room" as we select the winning entry at Del.icio.us") | Yahoo! My Web Technorati: Shel Holtz is principal of a shel of my former self
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