posted on January 9, 2003 03:38:49 PM new
Only one word describes this advertisement
STUPID
LOS ANGELES - A group hoping to lessen U.S. reliance on foreign oil is debuting two television ads that link gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles to terrorist funding.
The ads mimic spots that link drug money to terrorism.
One commercial features a child's voiceover and shows a man filling his gas tank and footage of terrorist training. The closing statement: "Oil money supports some terrible things. What kind of mileage does your SUV get?"
The other ad shows people talking about their SUVs. One says, "My kids think it's cool." Another says, "I helped blow up a nightclub."
The 30-second ads were created for The Detroit Project, a nonprofit launched by syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington. They will begin airing Sunday in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington and Detroit.
"This campaign is not designed to demonize SUV owners," Huffington said. "We want to encourage customers to connect the dots and make socially responsible consumer choices."
The ads were written and directed by Scott Burns, who was part of the creative team responsible for "Got Milk." They are intended as parodies, Burns said.
The ads were turned down by several TV stations -- WABC in New York, KABC and KCBS in Los Angeles and WDIV in Detroit, according to campaign publicists Fenton Communications.
Huffington said the stations found them "controversial." The ads will air on "Face the Nation" and "Meet the Press" on Sunday.
The Detroit Project was created by Americans for Fuel Efficient Cars, a group co-founded by Huffington, film producer Lawrence Bender, environmental activist Laurie David, and movie and TV agent Ari Emanuel.
The ads -- which cost $50,000 to make and $175,000 for air time -- were paid for through donations.
Sam Kazman, general counsel of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, criticized the ads as "elitist nonsense." The institute is a business lobby that favors a nongovernment approach to regulatory issues.
posted on January 9, 2003 05:57:14 PM new
I agree with the ads. I have seen the one with the voiceover of the child showing George fueling his SUV.
Of course, WDIV, channel 4 in Detroit would refuse to air the commercials. Detroit is the home of auto production. Thousands and thousands of people make thier living putting cars together on the line, or in the manufacturing plants nearby that supply parts to the big 3 auto makers. The unions would have a field day scorning WDIV and their advertisers. Channel 4's advertising revenue would drop, and they are not in business to have that happen.
We all know that the typical large V-8 engine SUV gets poor gas mileage. Often times, you will see only one person in them too. Also, everyone know the simple law of supply and demand. The higher the demand, the higher the price of any one item. The lower the demand, the lower the price. This is true if the item is Fur Real Kitty a week before Christmas, or a gallon of gas anytime. In the fact SUV's get poor gas mileage, and there are so many on the road, the demand for gas goes up. Therefore, the price goes up along with it. The people who have cars with small engines, pay the price for this too.
Also, one might consider the fact the US Military sends our troops (sons, daughters, family members) in the oil rich regions of the world to provide protection to these nations that supply us, the US, with oil. They put their lives on the line so people can drive the American Dream. A gas guzzling SUV.
These driver often think they are theSUPER DRIVERS of the raod way. When the light turns yellow, they floor the GAS using the large V-8 engine to make it through the intersection. After waiting at a red light for a green, they floor the GAS to make it to their destation faster than anyone else.
One of the funniest things I see on the expressway in the wintertime here in Michigan, is an SUV in the ditch.
posted on January 9, 2003 06:07:24 PM new
One more thing.
If the average SUV has a gas tank that holds 25 gallons, and gas is $1.55 a gallon (thanks to the US Military), then it will cost $38.75 to fill that tank. If you use a tank a week, then at the end of one year, you would have used $2015.00 in gas. If you do this for 3 years, then your total is $6045.00.
Also, figure in the fact that you have to make $7556.25 before taxes to buy this gas, based on 25 percent tax rate.
posted on January 9, 2003 07:09:48 PM new
So by driving a Honda I am only 50% to blame for the same blown up nightclub?
That makes me feel so much better. It is like being 50% pregnant.
And the guy who buys some Chinese stuff at the dollar store is responsible for whatever they use the money for. If we get in a war with China in 10 years he can be responsible for LA being wiped out. All for a cheap pair of socks and spatula.
For sure I don't want to buy a bottle of tequila. The money for it will probably be used to repress their indians.
I guess I better just not buy anything until I have a full report on the morals of everyone involved.
posted on January 9, 2003 08:01:32 PM new
If the Dems(I am one) would support Bush's plan to drill in Alaska we might not have this problem. My biggest problem with SUV's is that they are difficult to see around and that there are apparently many who simply can't control them. It seems that almost every accident reported here in Florida involves an SUV rollover.
posted on January 9, 2003 08:08:59 PM new
Using a big SUV to drive back and forth to work in city traffic is an obscene waste of resources and money. The "safety" argument is not sound, unless you are driving one of the really big ones...5 years ago, my wife was returning from her gallery at night, and hit a 2900 lb. Beefmaster bull who had gotten out into the road.She was going 60+mph and had no time to brake.The Suburban had 3500 dollars damage to it's front end, but the frame was not bent, and she got out without a scratch. The bull was not so lucky... there are realistic and economical uses for large SUV's ..I can haul my wife, our son and 6 other kids to a gymkhana and pull a trailer carrying 4 horses , not to mention hay, saddles and tack and 120 qt. coolers loaded with lunches and drinks in our Suburban, and get 19 miles to the gallon doing it, the same mileage it gets with just me in it..that to me is pretty economical, as well as environmentally sound..I couldn't begin to pull a 4 horse trailer with my little toyota pickup, and when I use it to pull the one horse setup, the mileage plummets from it's stellar 25mpg to a measly 12..that job I can do with one vehicle would need at least three smaller vehicles to accomplish...seems to me that vehicles for lots of people aren't tools anymore, they're fashion statements. Realistically priced oil would go a long way to putting a damper on unnecessary consumption.
posted on January 9, 2003 08:31:59 PM new
by the way, for the record, my Suburban holds 46 gallons. Gas here is 1.39 a gallon. It costs about 65 dollars to fill up and gets about 18 or 19 miles to the gallon. We use about a tank every three weeks, which puts annual gas costs at a bit over 1100.00 per year...these are real figures, I just looked in the ranch books to verify them..I hope the folks who are on their high horse about SUVs realize that there ARE people who have a real need for them.
posted on January 9, 2003 08:42:43 PM new
But when they torch one in a righteous fervor I doubt if they will poll the owner to see about that.
It's like a cartoon I saw this week where a bunch of PETA demonstrators were marching with signs and the leader was telling this woman with an empty can in her hand - "We admire your resolve but there are some exceptions"
She had thrown red paint on this poor bewildered looking dog for wearing fur.....
posted on January 9, 2003 08:42:45 PM new
I can understand profe's need for an SUV or a truck. But in the Washington DC area nearly every family has an SUV to travel back and forth to the grocery store generally with only a driver and no other passengers. I have seen two accidents involving these auto's and in each case, the SUV was rolled over on its side in an area with a speed limit of 40 mph.
The use of SUV's is clearly a case of conspicuous "consumption" for most people and keeps George Bush and his buddies happy.
Helen
[ edited by Helenjw on Jan 9, 2003 08:51 PM ]
posted on January 9, 2003 08:46:23 PM new
It's true people don't know how to drive them.
I saw a woman roll one over on a dry clear day coming toward me with no other vehicle involved at all. She just ran off on the gravel shoulder because she was putting her make-up on and as she swerved back the edges of the tires dug in and threw a big spray of gravel ahead of it - and over she went.
posted on January 9, 2003 08:50:23 PM new
Many people buy an SUV because they think they can see more down the road because they are up higher. This is true to a certain extent.
These people need to do this simple test. Place your open hand in front of your face about 2 inches from your eyes. What do you see? Then move your hand 12 inches from your face. What do you see now? Much more, right? This same method of seeing things works also when driving in traffic. The closer you are to things in front of you, the less you see. People need to stop tailgating!
Sometimes I encounter an SUV driver tailgating me when I'm doing the speed limit. What do I do? Simple let off the gas and increase the space of the car in front of me. I think many times SUV drivers think they can intimatdate drivers of the vehicles in front of them due to the size of their SUV. They may with other people, but they don't with me.
posted on January 9, 2003 08:59:55 PM new
drivers in general are becoming ruder all the time...I get tailgated in equal measure by people in SUVs and little bitty cars, and I drive the speed limit...tailgaters in any vehicle deserve to be involved in a rear-ender as far as I'm concerned..
posted on January 10, 2003 02:23:11 AM new
profe51
Realistically priced oil would go a long way to putting a damper on unnecessary consumption.
If you meant ‘cheaper’ oil, then I can’t see any logic in that statement.
Have a listen to most of us.
We demand our god given right to chew up as much of the world’s finite resources as we care to.!!!!
The world has only so much ozone, resources, etc, when it’s gone; we’re $crewed.
Unfortunately ‘we’, (the most people), will pay the highest price; the most lives.
I can’t imagine any thing, any one could tell me to convince me that ‘we’ aren’t $crewed if we continue along our current consumption habits.
I think it’s all linked to the fact that we in the ‘first world’ want to consume as much as we can without fair consideration to the over-exploitation of ‘our’ resources; and even if that resource is human labour in a (preferably out of sight) ‘2nd’ or ‘3rd’ world country.
The farmers need their tools, as prof explained, but I’d bet my #$%^& that most of us don’t ‘need’ tools like that.
Perhaps it’s time we all went on a fast for a while, if that sounds too biblical then just don’t eat for a while,
Imagine what that would do to crop prices, they’d plummet, I’d imagine and then some poorer people will be able to afford anchovies or what ever else is going cheap.
And if we consumed less petrol then the corporations which otherwise stood to gain the most, would have to find another business and sell their plant for scrap. And ‘we’ would live longer, Isn’t that fair?
WELL
It sounds like this add’ is a real beauty, true or not; perhaps only ‘shock’ advertisements will make us change our decadent ways.
It’s free speech, right?
At least you can’t say its government intervention.
posted on January 10, 2003 03:29:56 AM new
ausbounty...I didn't mean cheaper...although it's painful to fill up at the station, the reality is that gas is a pretty darn cheap commodity, and Americans have been spoiled into thinking we have some sort of "right" to it.
posted on January 10, 2003 03:49:09 AM new
austbounty
Perhaps you'd like a government agency to be formed to review what sort of job you work and where you live and issue you a permit for what kind of car you can buy.
posted on January 10, 2003 08:30:27 AM new
....government agency to be formed to review what....
what size house you really need...vs. want. After all, it uses more energy to heat and cool a larger house than it does a small one...and why should only one or two people use more energy in heating a 5,000 sq. ft. house, when an 800' one would be all they really need.
posted on January 10, 2003 04:16:21 PM new
Does space exploration support terrorism? What about the ultimate SUV. The space shuttle transporteruses 6 GALLONS PER MILE. I suppose we should suspend all shuttle launches?
posted on January 10, 2003 05:02:17 PM new
Gravid
Government intervention!
Not a bad idea.!
After all we are obviously self interested and don’t seem able to exercise self-restraint.
The grass is always greener, is natures joke on us, we’re never content.
There are children starving all over the world, but Gravid demands freedom to exploit all the resources he/she cares to.
Gravid, You are a great example of greed.
Karl Marx called this a ‘commodity fetish’ and gravid is demanding his ‘right’ to exercise it.
Mite makes right.!!
But after the McCarthy trials, Americans might not be to keen to quote Marx.
Have you seen that old movie with the line ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more’?
That’s what’s going to happen if the down-trodden masses get pushed far enough without some ‘government/power intervention’ to control them.
So gravid, do you think the world is going OK along it’s current path of consumption.
With no government intervention, Union Carbide could build a 2nd rate battery factory next door to your house.
Do you also think they should have the ‘right’ to do that too?
Your sort of philosophy will only bring about economic growth for certain sectors.
FREEDOM!!
Freedom to be a big fat pig.! Even if it means others starve. (that’s what your saying).
Or did you ONLY mean freedom for 'clean descent living Christian 'white folk''.
Do you think that most individuals are capable of socially responsible consumer choices.?
You would be ignorant to think that.
Tomwi
Your ugly mutt’s web site gives me the impression that your dog eats better than some humans do in the world.
What a waste of earth’s resources.
‘Yo Bear! You do know that Huffington is one of yer right-wing, pretzel-choking, nutzo-fruitballs, doncha??’ (deep, deep,)
I don’t know if this Huffington is a ‘nutzo-fruitball’ but this advertisement will help curb pollution.
And that’s got to be good for the whole world.
But Detroit might not like that!
posted on January 10, 2003 05:30:20 PM new
austbounty
How little you know me for all your words.
I drive a little old Honda and take such good care of it I won't make them build a replacement for several more years althought it is 12 years old.
Because it is in my own interest.
I live in a condo of less that 1000 sq. ft.
And the way I live should be available to all the non-christian various dark skinned people of the world.
But you see their governments by their policies effectively have decided they will keep their population from living like me. If they put up with it that's their problem. Not something I have imposed on them. If they want to rise up and throw off their political and religeous restraints more power to them.
The economy of scarcity is a false theory. Shortages are economically driven not physically imposed.
posted on January 10, 2003 05:39:49 PM new‘Yo Bear! You do know that Huffington is one of yer right-wing, pretzel-choking, nutzo-fruitballs, doncha??’ (deep,deep,)
Dam, And no one told me the adoption went through.
posted on January 10, 2003 06:28:52 PM new
‘'The economy of scarcity is a false theory. Shortages are economically driven not physically imposed.'
So there are no shortages in your country! food, health, medicine, education, clean water, clean air.
'But you see their governments by their policies effectively have decided they will keep their population from living like me.'
Yeah right! It's all their fault, because external governments have no control/influence????
Yeah right, American Government didn't have any say/influence in Vietnam, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Afganistan, Cuba etc etc etc etc.
They didn't encourage Russia into spending up on the moon race, so they'd have less money to spend on other things.
There is no influence as a result of movies, cinema, radio.
You live as you do because others don't.
Did your slaves have a slave?
Even in your own country, all people don't 'live like you.'
As we were watching the news at a friend’s house one day, with images of Ethiopian children with bloated bellies, his uneducated old grandmother said-
'why don't they go and get a job?'
We all laughed, but she couldn't see it, just as you can't.
You tell the frogs of the world that the ozone layer is doing OK.
But you could say it's their fault because their leaders don't care.
You say that you drive a little Honda and take care of it ‘Because it is in my own interest’.
And your current leader wants to sell lots of oil because it’s in his interest.
It’s not in our interest to walk, hey!
posted on January 10, 2003 07:07:30 PM new
That's where people like you always end up.
The solution is always to reduce anyone who has anything to the level that the worst case is existing at - so if anyone has anything - kill them because they didn't get it by hard work or thinking - just on the backs of everyone that is downtrodden.
You never think to raise everyone.
Bull
Small minds think its a zero sum game because all you understand is give me. There is for example enough food to feed everybody in the world. But the companies that sell it won't give it away. You should be thinking in terms of what can they do to earn the food. Not in terms of carity because they are not going to do that. If that makes them evil get over it.
That's reality. I've been hungry and not had food in the house. I don't hate anyone for not giving it to me free. Work around it. Deal with reality.
[ edited by gravid on Jan 10, 2003 07:09 PM ]
[ edited by gravid on Jan 10, 2003 07:15 PM ]
posted on January 10, 2003 09:58:45 PM new
‘enough food to feed everybody in the world.’……. ‘You should be thinking in terms of what can they do to earn the food. ‘
HA HA HA
YEAH!!! Let the bludgers get a job.
Yeah! Let the bludgers work hard, just like ‘dubya’ it’s not that his daddy gave it to him, or that the self interested powerful lobbyists got him there.
..OK,..Who is he- she..?