General Motors swears it's just a case of bad timing. The automaker has severed its ties with CBS' Survivor, and the announcement comes on the heels of the controversial news that Survivor teams will be divided by race for the first half of this season. GM says the decision to split with Survivor was made long ago because the people who participate on the show and watch the show don't drive GM vehicles. GM sponsored Survivor for six seasons.GM drops sponsorship of Survivor
General Motors swears it's just a case of bad timing. The automaker has severed its ties with CBS' Survivor, and the announcement comes on the heels of the controversial news that Survivor teams will be divided by race for the first half of this season. GM says the decision to split with Survivor was made long ago because the people who participate on the show and watch the show don't drive GM vehicles. GM sponsored Survivor for six seasons.













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-31-2006 @ 10:45AM
LC said...
"GM says the decision to split with Survivor was made long ago because the people who participate on the show and watch the show don't drive GM vehicles."
With their current woes I would guess that those who weren't watching survivor weren't driving GM either.
If anything, they should advertise this season due to the huge ratings that the first episode will get and after, at least until they merge the 4 tribes which is usually after the first episode.
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8-31-2006 @ 11:06AM
gt said...
"the people who participate on the show and watch the show don't drive GM vehicles"
isnt that the point of advertising? or is it to tell people who already own a cobalt to buy another cobalt? i guess gm's dont sell themselves
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8-31-2006 @ 12:41PM
Dee said...
GM - you should have really thought this 'explanation' through before you said it:
GM says the decision to split with Survivor was made long ago because the people who participate on the show and watch the show don't drive GM vehicles
If I drive a GM then I am not the intended audience, eh? Most companies go after people that do not use their products.
Enough said - excuses, excuses, excuses.
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8-31-2006 @ 12:43PM
Peter said...
It's much harder to convert new customers than it is to keep old ones. It's called branding. So while it may seem like all commercials try to sign up new buyers, the ultimate goal of any marketer is to keep existing buyers, because that's where the money really is.
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8-31-2006 @ 1:11PM
Steve said...
Sometimes it makes more sense to take a chance than to play it safe. The conservatives at GM are the reason that the company continues to lose market share, and here is a good opportunity for them to make a change. Instead, they chose to run away because they feel that the race issue will be too controversial. Wasn't going to turn around the company, but could have changed some of the perceptions. Too bad.
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8-31-2006 @ 1:26PM
Anna said...
I saw another article that said GM was frustrated with the lack of opportunities for product placement. Not a whole lot of drivin' happening on those islands.
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8-31-2006 @ 2:00PM
Walt said...
On the mythos of the show itself, there is such a thing as "the curse of the car(winner)"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_car_curse
I suspect that while being known as the provider of the car for the curse didn't really come into play, I also supsect that tie-in advertising for the show failed so miserably that it may not have been seen as having much of an advantage. By tie-in advertising... anyone remember that time when you had to go to the Pontiac dealership and get a chance at winning one of the cars that were also given away on the show? Yeah, well, trust me, that couldn't have gone over very well. I don't have any facts, but come on... I'm pretty convinced feedback from that was all negative.
GM is trying to reinvent ways of advertising, and sticking with Survivor is a bad idea, and this comes from someone who watches the show.
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9-11-2006 @ 7:16PM
Leaking Ink said...
Perhaps GM's sales will get better, since they own Saturn, and Saturn has come out with the Saturn Aura XE--a very good-looking car, feels solid when you drive it--not like a compact, had ample power even in the smaller of the two engines, interior didn't look cheap, comfortable, large trunk, fold-down rear seat.
I'm sure that since the XR has more horsepower, it will have ample acceleration even though it gets 1 miles less for gas mileage. I understand that GM is hesitant to back Survivor this season because they don't want to alienate anyone. We ARE of different races. Does GM think we don't know and recognize that? They weren't worried about all the homosexuals that have been on Survivor, but now they worry about race? A little healthy competion won't hurt anything.
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