Health & Fitness
Help Him Understand the GM Bailout Fallout
General Motors is once again driving itself into the ground.
This past weekend, General Motors announced a deal with Manchester United relating to sponsorship of their shirts. The deal was announced at $559 million dollars and is expected to run through 2020. Shortly after the deal was announced, GM removed its global advertising director from his position. The deal as publicized is more than twice what Manchester United was paid by its previous automobile sponsor.
Did I just read that right? Did you? I seem to remember a few years back that General Motors was about to go under, until the government stepped in and saved them. This earned GM the moniker of "Government Motors" with President Obama as its CEO.
Apparently things have changed in Motown and the big wigs are once again rolling around in piles of cash. Enough so that they can give a European soccer team a HALF BILLION DOLLARS for a 2 inch patch on their shirts. Granted, Man U is the most storied franchise on the planet, but I mean does this make sense? Am I left to believe that we will see Her Highness Queen Elizabeth tooling around London in her Corvette anytime soon?
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I know nothing about running a car company, I admit it. But if GM really thought this was a smart move, why did they fire the man who signed the deal the next day? Perhaps because they knew the backlash that was on the way?
But (and I could be wrong here) there has been nothing on the news about this. No politician speaking to it, and the White House is silent.
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GM spent a little over 4 billion on advertising last year. They are on pace to sell a little over 5.6 million cars this year. That ads up to about $775 on every car they sell, just in advertising. I know nothing about it, but does that seem like a lot?
Am I crazy? Or does a company that received a taxpayer funded $50 billion bailout have a responsibility to change? Is this a good example of what GM thinks is a smart business decision? Especially when only less than 10 percent of that bailout has been paid back!
Please help me to understand this.
Does this make you as upset as it makes me?
Why are all the politicians so silent about this?
It makes me want to scream! I have asked a lot of questions here, I admit. And as I have said multiple times, I have no idea how to run a car company. But perhaps whoever is in charge at GM doesn't either!
