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GM Pulls 'Jack Flash' Corvette Ad

Wed Aug 25, 1:50 PM ET Add Entertainment - Reuters TV to My Yahoo!


By Michael Ellis

DETROIT (Reuters) - Protests from seven safety groups prompted General Motors Corp. to pull a television ad that shows a young boy driving a Corvette sports car so recklessly that it goes airborne, officials of the automaker said on Wednesday.


Reuters Photo



The ad, featuring the Rolling Stones song "Jumpin' Jack Flash," has aired repeatedly during the Olympics. The groups, including Consumers Union and the Center for Auto Safety, complained that it was "the most dangerous" spot they have seen in recent years.


Directed by singer Madonna (news - web sites)'s husband Guy Ritchie, the spot shows a boy's daydream of racing the Corvette through downtown streets and through a construction pipe. The safety groups said in a letter to GM released on Wednesday that the spot could encourage children to take their parents' cars for a drive.


"This ad is certainly among the most dangerous, anti-safety messages to be aired on national television in recent years," the safety groups said in a joint letter sent to GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner. "It is doubtful that General Motors would condone the beer industry showing a "dream sequence" of 10-year-old children having an after-school "kegger,"" the letter said.


The ad does include a warning that drivers should operate the vehicle safely and must have a license, but the automaker decided to stop airing the spot, GM spokesman Joe Jacuzzi said on Wednesday.


"We decided to pull it due to responses and feedback we received," Jacuzzi said. "It's a big ad, and it's been airing for a while, but we've got a whole campaign."


The Corvette ad is one of many spots GM prepared for the Summer Olympics (news - web sites). GM is the largest television advertiser during the Summer Games, spending 10 times more during the Aug. 13-29 Olympics than it typically spends during a comparable period.


The seven groups who signed the letter include Consumers Union, Public Citizen, Center for Auto Safety, Consumer Federation of America and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.


Groups have also protested controversial ads or marketing campaigns from other automakers in recent years.


Ford Motor Co. was targeted when an ad showing a cat poking its head through the sunroof of the SportKa, only to be decapitated when the roof closes, found its way onto the Internet. But that spot, which Ford said it never authorized and never aired, is still shown on the Internet, where it has created a buzz.


Chrysler pulled its sponsorship of the "Lingerie Bowl," which featured models in scanty outfits playing football and aired during halftime of the Super Bowl in February.


Someone, anyone....please tell me this is just a dream before i puke all over my keyboard.

"I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum...and i'm all out of bubblegum".

90 % of my driving was learned on the backroads of the 4 corners area as a youth.

We didnt have TV either, I had no one to blame for my motivations.

I had a shit load of fun in the Polera and the Chevelle <img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle>

And yes a Galaxy 500 Can truly fly if ya hit the railroad crossing at a hundred miles an hour.

Stupid shit a 12 year old will do when the moon is up and the parents are asleep

Fly fat ass Fly!!! <img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle>

"The power to Destroy the planet, is insignifigant to the power of the Air Force----Mudd Vader

Edited by - mrmudd on Aug 25 2004 6:11 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
90 % of my driving was learned on the backroads of the 4 corners area as a youth.

We didnt have TV either, I had no one to blame for my motivations.

I had a shit load of fun in the Polera and the Chevelle <img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle>

And yes a Galaxy 500 Can truly fly if ya hit the railroad crossing at a hundred miles an hour.

Stupid shit a 12 year old will do when the moon is up and the parents are asleep

Fly fat ass Fly!!! <img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle>

"The power to Destroy the planet, is insignifigant to the power of the Air Force----Mudd Vader

Edited by - mrmudd on Aug 25 2004 6:11 PM
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Hey I know two people who rolled a car while jumping some railroad tracks!

And there was the time I had a driving leson with my stepmom, when I had my permit. "Slow down at this stop sign..and ease over". (Loud skidding on gravel noise) "Sorry...guess I eased over a little faster than you would".

^^^Well I did get over towards the curb perfectly. <img src=icon_smile_approve.gif border=0 align=middle> That particular road was shaped weird, and curved to the right at the stop sign.

"Is that a Ninos sub? Right on...those are some good subs. Not as good as ours of course, but still good." -Subway employee.

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