No joke: Obama setting advertising policy for Chrysler
posted at 2:11 pm on May 14, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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On April 1st, Car and Driver fooled many into believing that Barack Obama had used his TARP leverage with Chrysler and GM to drop out of NASCAR. Those suckered into their April Fools Day joke can gain some vindication from an AdAge report last Monday on what the Obama administration actually has done to dictate internal policy at Chrysler. The White House forced the automaker to cut their advertising budget in half, and they wanted to eliminate it altogether:
Chrysler wanted to spend $134 million in advertising over the nine weeks it’s expected to be in bankruptcy — the U.S. Treasury’s auto-industry task force gave it half that.
So if GM, which is wrestling with the possibility of a Chapter 11 filing itself, is wondering how much influence the task force will have over marketing, the answer is: plenty. However, transcripts from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Southern District of New York, where the Chrysler case is being heard, proved for the first time that the task force at least understands that advertising is a necessary expense — even if it doesn’t think Chrysler needs $134 million for nine weeks of car ads.
Robert Manzo, executive director of Capstone Advisory Group and a consultant to Chrysler, testified at a May 4 hearing that the task force “believed that it was not feasible to not spend anything on marketing and advertising for fear of eroding the image of the brand,” during the company’s planned nine weeks in bankruptcy. However, Mr. Manzo also testified that this “hotly discussed” matter resulted in the task force basically slashing in half the amount Chrysler wanted for advertising in the period.
C&D ginned up a story in which Obama decided that NASCAR sponsorship was a waste of money, because it didn’t directly lead to selling cars. In the AdAge story, that apparently describes the attitude of both the task force and the bankruptcy judge. At one point, the judge asks, “Idle plants, why market?”, in reference to the several plants idled by Chrysler during the bankruptcy. It apparently doesn’t occur to anyone that the way to re-open idle plants is to increase sales — and that advertising is necessary for improvement.
GM will have its turn with the auto task force next, and will likely get the same treatment. Don’t be too surprised to hear at some point that the same group of people who couldn’t comprehend why a struggling automaker needed to spend $135 million on advertising will decide that they don’t need to spend $250 million on NASCAR. Car and Driver may not have set a practical joke on its readers — they may have shown a knack for prognostication.
Update: Can we recall a time when Obama didn’t think throwing money away on PR was a problem? Yes, we can!
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Hey, it’s lunchtime here, Mr. D. Careful with the visuals.
J.E. Dyer on May 14, 2009 at 2:56 PM
Then you better damn well get with the social con agenda, ernesto. Or, does that only work one way? Of course, it does!
Blake on May 14, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Smooth move Ex-Lax…
Obama, king of Opposite Land. Where raising taxes creates prosperity and slashing advertising sells more cars…
Wyznowski on May 14, 2009 at 2:58 PM
Obama’s ad slogan:
Buy a new Chrysler, or GM vehicle. It’s good for the companies, it’s good for the country, and it lines my pockets nicely. (flash big smile here)
capejasmine on May 14, 2009 at 2:59 PM
Years from now, Americans will look back upon this time and say, “WTF were we thinking?”
What a dangerous nut case Obama is. How long before the rest of the country catches on? I say 4-6 months. Can we get a dangerous nut case awareness level meter going?
AmericanUnderground on May 14, 2009 at 2:59 PM
This is almost surreal.
toliver on May 14, 2009 at 2:59 PM
We were there before the election and since. But with the news and entertainment media covering for Obama and heaping him with adoration, the country isn’t there yet. For that, something is going to have to happen that is so big that the MSM can’t cover it up or excuse it.
To me, the Saudi bow a major disgrace, but not to the MSM. To me, Scare Force One was surely “IT,” but not to the MSM. So, it’s going to have to be really, really big and bad.
Or, drip by drip, public support for Obama will just slowly erode away over time.
Loxodonta on May 14, 2009 at 3:00 PM
GM’s Chinese Imports Could Cause Political Headache
By Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer
Manufacturing.Net – May 14, 2009
Chairman MAObama is giving me a migraine!
“Socialism must be developed in China, and the route toward such an end is a democratic revolution, which will enable socialist and communist consolidation over a length of time. It is also important to unite with the middle peasants, and educate them on the failings of capitalism.” Chairman Mao Zedong
Brat on May 14, 2009 at 3:01 PM
Y-not on May 14, 2009 at 3:02 PM
I get a kick just thinking about all of the Obama slobberers thrillin’ around in: CHRYSLERS!! (giggle, snort!)
…would serve ‘em all right!
RegularJoe on May 14, 2009 at 3:02 PM
How do I sell my shares (that Obambi bought for me) so that this tax payer does’t own Chrysler anymore. (I never wanted to own it in the 1st place.
nolapol on May 14, 2009 at 3:02 PM
Alcohol and drug interventionists and counselors have a saying:
“In order for people to truly change, they really have to hit rock bottom”
I fear what society’s rock bottom is before they get a clue and replace Hopey Dopey dreams with reality…
Odie1941 on May 14, 2009 at 3:03 PM
The Leftist love of dictatorship. Out in the open and oh so proud.
Guardian on May 14, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Agreed! Liberals have totally debaunched our culture. Everything good is evil and everything evil is good.
I, for one, am sick of the constant onslught of filth and smut!
vapig on May 14, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Too little, too late. They totally ignored us and called us the nutjobs when we were screaming: “Are you F-ING NUTZ??”
vapig on May 14, 2009 at 3:06 PM
Indeed, I have been thinking along those same lines and my vision is not a rosy one.
nolapol on May 14, 2009 at 3:07 PM
PUKE!!!
nolapol on May 14, 2009 at 3:09 PM
This is very bad!!!!!!
Having been a buyer and seller of TV media this isn’t an easy thing to do. The agency will have to ask the networks to “sell off” their advertising bought in the Upfront. They are under contract to keep the advertising. If the networks can’t “sell off” the advertising Chrysler is stuck with it and have to air it and pay for it!
Wow for a supposed lawyer he hasn’t a clue about contract law!
xler8bmw on May 14, 2009 at 3:09 PM
Who needs marketing. Anybody who took TARP money (bank’s corporate fleets, state fleets, etc.) will be REQUIRED to buy from either branch of Obama-Motors.
Led by the UAW, Obama-Motors collapses under its own weighty benefits, low productivity and low quality.
Six to eight years from now, fleet owners will experience great costs in trying to repair vehicles that do not have spare parts, or replacing their fleets with Japanese or Korean models. . .
2klbofun on May 14, 2009 at 3:10 PM
They tell us that the economy is the most important think but they are unwilling to surrender their beliefs and vote republican but the socons must surrender their beliefs in order to attract individuals who obviously don’t care that much about the economy because they voted for that drunken sailor, obammy. Makes no sense.
Blake on May 14, 2009 at 3:11 PM
fify
califcon on May 14, 2009 at 3:12 PM
Obummer is not a lawyer so much as a Communistic organizer.
Guardian on May 14, 2009 at 3:13 PM
Excellent point.
I imagine Bambi will just hold another prime time photo op to move the money around… then end with “this message brought to you by Chrysler”
Odie1941 on May 14, 2009 at 3:13 PM
The ultimate worst case scenario for the social cons can only be brought about AFTER the ultimate worst case scenario for the conduct of american economic policy. the clearest path to a “conservative nightmare” is indeed through the economics of global redistribution, which is what “liberal economists” ultimately espouse. American political structure demands this. If we were in Britain, then yes, the fight would rest on socio-religious concerns. I can admit that. But that’s only because they lost the economic fight.
ernesto on May 14, 2009 at 3:14 PM
GM will reintroduce/rebrand the Boldsmobile. The logo is almost perfect already.
AnotherOpinion on May 14, 2009 at 3:15 PM
Laws, schmaws.
Y-not on May 14, 2009 at 3:15 PM
Yup. That goes hand in hand with the attitude that the Constitution is an imperfect document just begging for major revisions by the fraudulent one and his evil minions.
califcon on May 14, 2009 at 3:17 PM
Don’t forget the $330,000 Scare Force One photo-op.
Golden Boy on May 14, 2009 at 3:18 PM
I’m more socially conservative than ernesto on most issues (I think), but I agree with him here. The economy and national security (both of which include border security) need to take precedence at the national level.
At the local level, people can fight the social conservative agenda… and, of course, we can all try to lead by example in our personal lives. But if the country goes full-on Euro-style isolationistic socialist on us, we’re screwed.
Y-not on May 14, 2009 at 3:18 PM
Will the MSM O-bots criticize this policy when it affects their jobs.
With viewership in the toilet, fewer advertisers should help clear out the news rooms.
Right_of_Attila on May 14, 2009 at 3:18 PM
At some point, Obambi will realize he is his own tarbaby.
bloviator on May 14, 2009 at 3:19 PM
I hated thier ads anyway…./sarc
CBarker on May 14, 2009 at 3:21 PM
within another 100 days our beautiful proud country will be 100% FUBAR
Ris4victory on May 14, 2009 at 3:21 PM
Badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ badges.
Y-not on May 14, 2009 at 3:22 PM
In socialism, the government tells you what you can and can’t feed your cow, and whether you can sell it, and exacts a large tax if you do; and they demand half of the milk to give away (or more often to sit in a tank somewhere and rot; the main thing is to be sure that YOU don’t have more than someone else).
In communism, the government informs you that THEY now own the cow, the barn, and the farm, and how fortunate you are to be chosen to milk it; and you get punished if you aren’t able to turn over a gallon of milk every day.
RegularJoe on May 14, 2009 at 3:22 PM
I wonder how much foreign auto companies and their executives contributed to Obama’s campaign last year?
eaglewingz08 on May 14, 2009 at 3:24 PM
Obama, Chrysler and contract law (from WSJ)
RegularJoe on May 14, 2009 at 3:27 PM
No problem, he’ll just have the bankruptcy judge void the contract.
MarkTheGreat on May 14, 2009 at 3:27 PM
That reminds me of this classic cow joke (excerpted):
Y-not on May 14, 2009 at 3:27 PM
Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that they lose big money when he wants to see himself on TV. The slotted units are pre-empted and reslotted to other shows which may have lower ratings depending upon the time of year at this time they’re going into 3rd quarter which is the slowest quarter of the year with less TV viewing. Even though agencies are guaranteed audience impression sometimes they come up short.
xler8bmw on May 14, 2009 at 3:27 PM
Your link doesn’t work! As far as contract law Obama is in violation of the Taking Clause in the 5th amendment!
xler8bmw on May 14, 2009 at 3:30 PM
1st – Contracts mean nothing to the MAObama (I like that name) nor the left in general. In my experience liberal lawyers make the worst neighbors and clients and I avoid them as much as I can.
2nd – Let’s hope most of there advertising is with the NBC and the like and they actually get stuck with the bill.
nolapol on May 14, 2009 at 3:31 PM
Sorry, but I agree on this one. They have no business advertising.
It’s a dead product, and my tax dime is involved.
AnninCA on May 14, 2009 at 3:32 PM
So Chairman Maobama is closing dealerships and cutting advertising. Just how are we going to find these chinese manufactured gems to purchase?
shèng féi liào!
JeffinOrlando on May 14, 2009 at 3:33 PM
My bad. Try this:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124217356836613091.html
RegularJoe on May 14, 2009 at 3:43 PM
Thanks I did read that yesterday.
xler8bmw on May 14, 2009 at 3:45 PM
So this article from Dummies.com is pretty funny…
Y-not on May 14, 2009 at 3:49 PM
Sorry about the screwed up blockquote.
Y-not on May 14, 2009 at 3:50 PM
I don’t even like Mopar. Why should I be funding their advertising?
Why should I be funding them, period?
bluelightbrigade on May 14, 2009 at 3:53 PM
This would never have happened if the ad agencies were unionized!
califcon on May 14, 2009 at 3:53 PM
Probably not so far off for contractors or vendors like car rental firms who want to do business with the Federal Government.
SlimyBill on May 14, 2009 at 3:59 PM
Guess setting ad budgets not constituting “running” an auto company depends upon what your definition of “is” is. Welcome back, Billy.
scm on May 14, 2009 at 4:01 PM
So he’s throwing the union under the bus?
Ummm…he was sick on the day they taught that. Yeah!!! That’s it!
capejasmine on May 14, 2009 at 4:04 PM
VW ca. 1937?
bluelightbrigade on May 14, 2009 at 4:07 PM
Time for Obama to air another press conference that the MSM will be obligated to pick up. Bambi starts the press conference with the following statement …
“We all know that health care is the engine the drives the economy, but that engine is nothing compare to the quality engines in the line of American-built Chrysler cars. Now some people say I’m a smooth talker, but even my eloquence doesn’t compare to the smooth ride I always get in my Chrysler automobile .. “
PackerBronco on May 14, 2009 at 4:07 PM
1938…my bad.
bluelightbrigade on May 14, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Or show the lemmings in the presscorps an advert at the “intermission”
or, new Chrysler banner ads at WhiteHouse.gov
Sheesh.
bluelightbrigade on May 14, 2009 at 4:10 PM
He was writing his memoirs.
Y-not on May 14, 2009 at 4:12 PM
We must be living in Bizzaro World. I may not be a marketing genius, but disappearing from the airwaves and print entirely in the middle of a bankruptcy would seem to be the fastest way to erode the image of a brand that wishes to exist at the end of the process.
As for the update, it’s yet another case of “Do as I say, not as I do,” with a dose of making it easier for the ObamiNation Perpetual Campaign to monopolize the airwaves by eliminating the advertising competition.
steveegg on May 14, 2009 at 4:13 PM
In an administration where the leader and most of his staff grew up thinking that all TV channels should be like PBS and all print publications should be like Consumer Reports, it’s no surprise they’d have a total disdain for advertising.
The only question now is what Plan B is, when the lack of ads eventually makes the public forget that Chrysler has any new vehicles to sell (though it would be fun to see them offer people owing money to the IRS the chance to have their liabilities wiped out if they’ll just buy a Viper or a Cherokee from their neighborhood Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealer).
jon1979 on May 14, 2009 at 4:16 PM
GM’s Chinese Imports Could Cause Political Headache
By Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer
Manufacturing.Net – May 14, 2009
Our taxes to subsidize Chinese automakers.
NO BAIL-OUTS.
CUT TAXES.
DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW.
REAL JOBS! Not green mirages.
I read that the first Ford automobile body was produced of hemp oil high density plastic and fueled by hemp, and that the frame was stronger than metal, and eventually biodegradable given decades.
We already know that hemp was our nation’s #1 crop for hundreds of years when all of our paper, ropes, sails, canvas and most durable clothing were of hemp until the Depression when Dupont wanted the monopoly on energy production via holdings in fossil fuel investments, and yellow journalist Hearst wanted the paper monopoly via his woodland investments. Damned Democrat Socialists.
Obama really wants to go green, cultivate hemp. As it is, Obama’s pirating our income, our jobs, our industries. Higher taxes and more federal regulation smother our economy and stimulate our national suicide. Did Detroit think that Obama would not only bribe the confiscation of our free enterprise, but then after “bailing it out” forcing it subsequently into bankruptcy, then outsourcing it all to China? I am not surprised. Angry and disgusted, yes.
And I am not a proponent of dope. I eschew substance abuse.
maverick muse on May 14, 2009 at 4:20 PM
jon1979 on May 14, 2009 at 4:16 PM
Don’t forget that William F. Buckley had one of the first PBS shows. You’ll never see that again; they’d shred the film.
How long since you’ve viewed PBS? They advertise 15 minutes per hour. They also recycle their programming ad nauseum so that they no longer produce much more than but revamped liberal mantra voice-over from the same old footage in archive. And their pledge drives used to be once a year, then twice a year, then three, four times a year, now it seems every other month. They advertise ad nauseum on PBS.
maverick muse on May 14, 2009 at 4:29 PM
Discerning Minds want to know who sat in the Law Classes and who took the bar exam. The “0″ has not shown any of the characteristics necessary to get through Law School and pass the bar exam.
chemman on May 14, 2009 at 4:39 PM
Great… I’m used to people seeing me in my PT Cruiser and thinking I’m a putz; THAT I can live with… But if this follows its predicted course and GM and Chrysler metastasize into ‘GLOBAMA MOTORS,’ people might start thinking I actually support the man…
CaptFlood on May 14, 2009 at 4:46 PM
Tough shit for that single mom working for Chrysler’s ad agency.
rockmom on May 14, 2009 at 4:50 PM
She should have “chosen” not to have them.
/feminist kool aid drinker
Y-not on May 14, 2009 at 4:52 PM
At what percentage of the economy Controlled BY the Government would do people consider Fauxboma and the rest of the Demoncraps to be Fascist? (or Statist)
Somewhere between 0% [no governmental control] and 100% [complete control].
Clearly the value is above 0%, maybe it’s somewhere around 10%-20%, but what is the break point in this determination?
Note: Don’t bother with some supercilious argument that since it’s not 100%, it can’t be Fascism.
Fake8 on May 14, 2009 at 4:53 PM
The guy has never even so much as run a lemonade stand and he’s making business decisions for major US companies. G-d help us; the lunatics have the keys to the asylum.
redfoxbluestate on May 14, 2009 at 5:02 PM
Facism 101.
Johan Klaus on May 14, 2009 at 5:10 PM
“This is how the world ends: not with a bang, but a whimper.”
*whimper*
RegularJoe on May 14, 2009 at 5:16 PM
OT: I commented a little while ago upon Specter’s switch that it must be hell being 79 and looking in the mirror in the morning and either knowing you have no dignity, or being too stupid to realize it.
In keeping with that, Specter demonstrates how big of whore he really is, now being more open to “compromise” on union issues / card check.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/14/specter-warms-potential-deal-major-labor/
churchill995 on May 14, 2009 at 5:24 PM
Remember when he said he didn’t want to run a car company?
That was for the feeble minded, the addle-brained, i.e. the Democrats.
drjohn on May 14, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Peerez Hilton has enough gay friends that want a New Rahm Charger just for the sound of the name.
Car dealers are used to lawsuits. There will be lawsuits for several years for damages for cancelling dealerships.. They are all “post petition” claims and do not get treated like liabilities that were listed on the bankrup[tcy petition. Actually some claims will be so large, the UAW will regret its ownership. Where had Obama planned on getting the money to buy back inventory? Plymoith parts?
seven on May 14, 2009 at 5:34 PM
Ch. 13 in New York still has a commerical TV license, from its days back in the 50s and 60s as WNTA. A few years ago, during one of it’s periodic budget crisis, WNET floated a trial balloon/threat of actually running honest-to-god commercials to meet their funding goals, and the liberals in New York went absolutely wild.
They’ve rationalized themselves into accepting the funding sponsor plugs, but actual ads like those on regular TV stations are still seen as a violation of nature in their eyes. It’s that type of mindset that would make people in the administration look at Chrysler advertising with contempt and disdain (and if you could get a hidden mike into some of their meetings, I bet their comments about Chrysler doing any NASCAR sponsorship are really ripe).
jon1979 on May 14, 2009 at 5:35 PM
Rahmbo business plan
Hast to be from a Harvard MBA.
Cancel dealers to improve dealer trust and dealer loyalty
Cut advertising to save money. cars will be flying off the lots
Tell the sheeple you are saving 30,000 jobs and watch that all 30,000 have filed for unemployment. They were fired
Layoff people to improve employee moral and commitment.
Stop all manufacturing the day after filing bankruptcy and assume banks will not notice and finance cars for 100 dollars down.
Cancel dealers (750) and assume they will roll over and walk away without asking for compensation. Remember they are not union and the suits are individual.
We do not know how many billions, but cars that are financed by chrysler floor plan and in dealer inventory, will be eaten by Chrysler. They are not itemized in the bankruptcy petition.
seven on May 14, 2009 at 5:42 PM
oh great king know it all what color shirt should i wear tomorow.i’m stupid because he sounds like a commie to me hey gang remember 1917 .this jerk is a bolshevik.
wade underhile on May 14, 2009 at 7:39 PM
The real Obama agenda is to put ALL of the auto manufacturers out of business so that he and his enviro-wacko buddies can FORCE you to drive tiny, unsafe cars: cars which will have NO EFFECT on pollution, but which will result in many, many more highway deaths!!!
landlines on May 14, 2009 at 8:36 PM
The next shoe to drop is that Chrysler (Dodge) and GM will be forced out of NASCAR. I do not know how much money they spend on motorsports, but I’m sure that the One thinks any amount is too much. Can NASCAR survive with only Ford and Toyota in the races?
The bankruptcy judge forced K-Mart to end their sponsorship. Darrel Waltrip’s car, I think.
Pelayo on May 14, 2009 at 9:39 PM
Didn’t GE take bailout money? B Hussein tells NBC to give Chrysler free ad time on all their shows. Another problem solved by the greatest President ever.
TugboatPhil on May 14, 2009 at 9:51 PM
It was under the radar. thanks a lot. Now the socialist solutions have to be applied to NASCAR. They have 2 hour pit stops with a 45 minute break. The winnings have to be shared equally. All the cars will have to have emmissions testing and EPA permission slips.
I take it we all will have union staff selling hotdogs and union snacks. No prayer or National anthem.
seven on May 14, 2009 at 9:53 PM
“Throwing away money on PR” – you should’ve used the shot of all those US flags in trash bags after the Denver convention.
Blacksmith on May 14, 2009 at 10:36 PM
Does it really matter who sets ad policy? I wouldn’t buy a Chrysler if I saw Jesus himself pitching the Sebring.
angryed on May 15, 2009 at 7:37 AM
I guess President Obama’s first car was a “K” car.
MSGTAS on May 15, 2009 at 10:28 AM
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