As a non driver, I find the vast majority of car advertisements intensely annoying. All those pretentious adverts attempting to distinguish products that are almost identical. However, I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry at this:
(Link from many places, including Beyond Stupidity, Transport Blog and Boing Boing)
While the ad was eventually pulled following complaints, the fact that they’d run such an advert speaks volumes about the both attitude of GM’s executives, and the paranoia of some suburban north Americans, who hope to arrange their lives so they never actually have to come into contact with (shock horror!) poor people.
The irony (if Americans can do irony) is that not only do GM actually make buses, but the sort of person that rides the bus because they can’t afford a car isn’t going to buy a new vehicle, but a used beat-up old jalopy.
GM’s antipathy to public transportation goes back a long way. Along with Standard Oil and Firestone Tyres, they mounted hostile takeover bids for dozens of suburban electric transit systems in US cities. Once they’d gained control, they promptly closed them down, in order to promote increased car sales. It’s all chronicled here.
Although there are probably other factors, I’m sure much the blame for the total dominance of the car in most American cities compared with Europe can be laid at GM’s door.