GM Ad Features Suicidal Robot
| UPDATE: From NAMI StigmaBuster newsletter, “Shortly after the special StigmaBuster Alert was sent to NAMI advocates, General Motors (GM) announced a decision to pull and modify its Super Bowl 'suicide' television commercial. The portrayal of a robot's suicide, and any implication of suicide, will be removed.” During the Superbowl, General Motors ran a commercial featuring a robot who was fired for dropping a bolt on the assembly line due to GM's "obsession with quality." The robot, drooping sadly, went out hunting for other employment but obtained only a series of demeaning jobs. Eventually he committed suicide by jumping off a bridge into a river - then woke from what turned out to be a nightmare to find himself still at GM. I watched this ad with growing sadness and anger. At first I felt so sorry for the robot that I became upset and was angry at the company for making me sad, and then I was angry that they would actually depict a suicide attempt in a commercial for cars. I confess I was SO upset by the end that I didn't understand for sure that it was a dream and had no idea which auto maker ran the ad. NAMI Stigmabusters is calling for people to contact GM and complain about this advertisement before it is shown again (it is scheduled to run during the Academy Awards on February 25th).
You can see the ad here - but do not do so if you might be triggered by it! I urge everyone who was upset, triggered or offended by this ad to join the fight to make sure it never sees the light of day again.
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Comments
Ummm… it was a robot? In a commercial? What’s the big deal? I’m bipolar and I found the ad creative and funny. In a nation as obsessed with being offended as ours, when are we going to learn to deal with the fact that there will be things in life that we may not like, but that doesn’t give us the right to censor or block them. You have the right to be offended. You also have the right to look away.
I suffer greatly from Bipolar disorder, not only did the ad make me cry, but I had dreams of Johnny 5 from the popular 80’s film Short Circuit for days.
But instead of saying his well-quoted line “Stephanie, change colour!” He would say, “Stephanie, please slit my hydraulic cables, my hands are simplistic mechanical devices, I do not have the dexterity to end my own life.”
How can I stop these nightmares, please, help me!
Bipolar Sufferer – It might help you if you write to GM as NAMI suggests. You’d know that you did something to protect other people from experiencing what you did. I really understand your reaction to the ad. It’s easy for someone who wasn’t bothered by it to say “look away,” but it WAS attention-grabbing. I mean, I didn’t pay much attention to the Superbowl – but the ad grabbed my eye and held it (even though at the end I had no idea what car maker it was for). I don’t think taking out the suicide section, as GM has agreed to do, is enough. The ad still makes fun of depression – and unemployment for that matter – and still can do harm. Big hugs! –Marcia
Um, Marcia…I think you might have missed a tag or two there…
Oh, great, stupid software doesn’t do special character conversion. See if this displays better:
Um, Marcia…I think you might have missed a <sarcasm> tag or two there…