General Electric’s Hypocrisy on Advertising

posted at 10:15 am on April 21, 2008 by Ed Morrissey

MS-NBC features another how-dare-ABC-ask-Dem-candidates-questions post-debate essay, this time from the New Yorker. It offers absolutely nothing new except even more of an Olbermannesque sense of outrage than usual, even for MS-NBC. However, it throws in a new twist about how quickly ABC cut to its first commercial:

Last Wednesday’s two-hour televised smackdown in Philadelphia between the two remaining Democratic candidates for President, which might have been billed as the Élite Treat v. the Boilermaker Belle, turned into something worse—something akin to a federal crime. Call it the case of the Walt Disney Company v. People of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (and of the United States, for that matter). Seldom has a large corporation so heedlessly inflicted so much civic damage in such a short space of time.

None of the other debates had been models of philosophic rigor. But, right from the start, there were clues that the sponsor of this one—ABC News, a part of the ABC network, which is owned by Disney—might establish new benchmarks of degradation. After brief opening statements from the candidates, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, ABC immediately cut to an advertisement for a cell-phone company. A commercial? Already? Were candidates for President of the United States being used as teasers?

Well, this is certainly something new — a magazine complaining about excessive advertisements. Just for the record, the article itself gets interrupted by an ad for a mortgage company and again for a block of links to other New Yorker stories. Besides that, the page features the following advertisements:

  • MSN Shopping
  • Entrepeneur.com
  • Perfect Match
  • $7 online trades
  • Monster.com
  • Homepages.com
  • A home-income MLM plan
  • “Decreased Cellulite and Increased Libido!”
  • GulfEthanolCorp
  • Lasers Pine Institute
  • DebtAmerica
  • Perfect Match (again)
  • Monster.com (again)
  • MSN Auto
  • Homepagescom (again)
  • Entrepeneur..com (again)
  • Scottrade
  • Mentested.com
  • DebtAmerica (again)
  • PEGASYS
  • Lasik Plus
  • Allied Health Schools
  • A number of NBC promotions

What was their complaint again? Oh, right, that news and entertainment via free media has to get underwritten by advertisements. Glad to see General Electric is above such grubby efforts.

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Do as we say, not as we do… or What bias?

rightside on April 21, 2008 at 10:18 AM

I long ago learned to tune out ads entirely, unless I’m watching football or NASCAR with my sister an beer ads come on–those usually are pretty entertaining, but don’t do the advertisers much good as I don’t even drink beer. Totally ignore ads on websites as a rule.

Bob's Kid on April 21, 2008 at 10:19 AM

Money is not the root of all evil. Love of money is the root of all evil. If money were corrupting ipso facto, I’d be a little more corrupt every Thursday when I go into work to pick up my paycheck. D–N you, employers of America!

gryphon202 on April 21, 2008 at 10:20 AM

Sold my GE stock a long time ago because of their liberal bent.

kcluva on April 21, 2008 at 10:24 AM

At least they don’t put patches on the candidates outfits for advertisers like they do in Nascar.

Although when playing to the south they could slap a John Deer cap on Barry “Osama” Obama and have him say he gets his huntin’ license and WAL*Mart. And maybe Hillary could say how much she likes tossing back Jaggermeister shots when hanging out with other middle-aged men like herself.

Neo on April 21, 2008 at 10:24 AM

MSNBC works very hard to maintain its viewer base . . . both of them.

rplat on April 21, 2008 at 10:26 AM

All those match ads…targeted to you, Ed?

jgapinoy on April 21, 2008 at 10:29 AM

GE. Going green today…red tomorrow.

whitetop on April 21, 2008 at 10:30 AM

They ought to rename the network BS-NBC

CP on April 21, 2008 at 10:30 AM

Wow, I run an ad blocker and I didn’t see any ads at all when I followed the link. Thanks! I didn’t realize how well my blocker worked.

Oldnuke on April 21, 2008 at 10:38 AM

And my outfit (at Citi) just got bought up by GE; Ewwww! Hard to believe my first exposure to Ronald Reagan was on the GE speaking circuit (1963; yes, I was there for the birth of dirt.)

michaelo on April 21, 2008 at 10:41 AM

Generally Execrable.

profitsbeard on April 21, 2008 at 10:50 AM

Nuclear triggers, stove tops, Telemundo…on and on and on…free enterprise nirvana. Diversity is their shield. Whatever they do to hurt sales in one area will probably pick up sales in another. Win-win for the stockholders and adds kevlar to those golden parachutes.

Got to admit it, folks, they have one hell of a buisness plan.

Limerick on April 21, 2008 at 10:58 AM

Neo on April 21, 2008 at 10:24 AM

The correct phrase, ala J. Kerry, would be, “Where can I get me a huntin’ license.” Us hicks fall for that stuff all the time. Think I’ll go to the bowling alley and see if I can top a 37.

TugboatPhil on April 21, 2008 at 11:28 AM

Nice to see that the writer contributed his time and is not paid, must give him a warm feeling to do all of his writing for free…wait, he is paid? How dare him make money off of something so sacred as a Presidential campaign.

right2bright on April 21, 2008 at 11:57 AM

Is that a New Yorker piece without a byline? The Communications Workers of America won’t be pleased to learn of this violation of their collective bargaining agreement.

gabriel sutherland on April 21, 2008 at 12:00 PM

GE
Not what it used to be.

Entelechy on April 21, 2008 at 1:02 PM

So when do they take out those ‘Men In Black’ flashers and make everyone forget that debate?

Obama gets asked some real questions and they want to mulligan, or blame it on the commercials? This is making the 2000 and the 2004 election look sophisticated in comparison.

From dangling chads to improperly timed ads.

Hening on April 21, 2008 at 1:41 PM