An article at Deadspin points out that GM gave Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes a car, but didn't publicize it like they have in previous years.
Fact: Santonio Holmes made more than $2 million this season. Fact: The federal government just bailed out General Motors to the tune of $9.4 billion. So, why is GM giving Holmes an $85,000 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid Platinum, which has been, in effect, purchased by the taxpayers?
A commentor mentions that this is even worse than not giving him the car. I had this thought, too. Seriously, I swear I thought of if before I saw the comment. I went and looked at the comment thread because I figured I wouldn't be the only one.
Surely in the past, GM figured that the relatively low cost of an Escalade compared with the promotional value of being on the field just after the Super Bowl was a worthwhile marketing effort. They were probably right.
But now, they've still spent the money, but the only way that Escalade gets in the news is if Holmes gets arrested in it.
Ok, first of all, GM paid
Ok, first of all, GM paid way more than the cost of the Escalade to give the MVP this car. They made a business (i.e., PR) decision to not take advantage of the marketing aspect. They may have even gotten out of some of the money they had committed (probably a few million bucks). At this point, GM is making horrible business decisions (like selling off their private jets) because the only business they are in right now is convincing politicians that they can give them billions of dollars without ending their careers. As for sales generated, and profits, they couldn't care less at this point...
Gee, almost sounds like a reason that government involvement in private enterprise leads to bad decisions.. eh?
Isn't that even worse? I
Isn't that even worse? I don't know what they paid last year compared to what they paid this year. But it seems that they can either cancel the whole thing and save the cash or they can pay the money and get the exposure. Handing a really rich guy an expensive car when no one can see doesn't seem to serve any purpose at all.
My point was that the car
My point was that the car gift was something they couldn't get out of. They probably still paid millions for the promotion and ad time, but told NBC not to run it, because of the bad PR.
The fact remains that paying
The fact remains that paying the money and getting no publicity seems dumb. Not that whatever they paid is really going to make a difference.
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