July 23, 2008
You hear a story like this:
A Sandy man is facing criminal charges after police say he pulled a gun on a driver trying to act out a 1980s mustard commercial.
On June 19, a driver at the intersection of 900 East and Winchester pulled up to the 22-year-old man’s SUV and asked him to roll down his windows, according to charges filed Tuesday in 3rd District Court.
“Excuse me, sir, do you have any Grey Poupon?” the man in the other car asked, according to court documents.
The 22-year-old suspect then pointed a handgun at the driver and said, “Here’s your Grey Poupon. Roll your (expletive) windows up.”
The driver of the SUV has been charged with one count of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony.
This is from today’s Deseret News. Here is the ad if you haven’t seen it before. The ads were indeed very memorable. They aired when I was still in elementary school, but I can vividly remember asking classmates “Excuse me, do you have any Grey Poupon…your shirt?” (I’ve sort of grown up since then).
Photo by Cynthia Blue
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July 22, 2008
“Find More. Use Less.” Have you heard this tag line lately? It’s the Republican’s answer to high gas prices. This is NOT a political blog, so let’s not get into a political debate here. It’s a lot more fun to pick apart the particulars and logic of the argument and criticize them.
Since the phrase is so prominent as of late, we’re overdue for an airing of grievances. On the surface, the argument seems to be a great solution to the problem of a limited supply of oil and the need to actively pursue alternative energy solutions. The phrase also positions Republicans as in touch with citizens (which is more than GM can say), that they’re working toward a solution to lower gas prices and, that they, like their left-wing counterparts, care about the environment.
Find more, use less is nice, but completely contradicts itself. Think about it. If we find more oil, then the supply of oil will go up, which not only lower the cost (which is an intended consequence) but also increase the amount we use (not intended). In fact, the only reason oil usage in the U.S. has decreased is because prices have gone as high as they have.
So, you can back up looking for more oil or back up using less, but you cannot back up both. The laws of economics cannot be refuted, my friend.
Photo by hometowninvasion
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July 22, 2008
Here’s what Roger Ehrenberg says are the biggest mistakes Monitor110 - a startup he was involved with - made that caused its demise:
1. The lack of a single, “the buck stops here” leader until too late in the game
2. No separation between the technology organization and the product organization
3. Too much PR, too early
4. Too much money
5. Not close enough to the customer
6. Slow to adapt to market reality
7. Disagreement on strategy both within the Company and with the Board
The full article is here, and it’s well worth the read.
The approach Ehrenberg uses to honestly and candidly look at what went wrong with the company is something I think we could all benefit from learning to do, especially his ability to look beyond particular events and see the situation from a conceptual, high level.
Photo by kusito
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July 21, 2008
Anyone want to spend $132 on a tank of regular gas? How about getting 10 miles per gallon? No? Well, then, does the thought of a a $900/month car payment get you excited?
No again? Me neither.
Which is why the sales of Hummer, one of GM’s brands, have plummeted 54% in the last quarter and continue to decline, prompting speculation of GM drastically lowering Hummer production and R&D or even completely selling off Hummer brand.
The last thing General Motors needs to do right now is roll out with yet another expensive, gas-guzzling SUV, but that’s just what they did last week when they introduced the Hummer H3T, a truck-like version of the H3 with low gas mileage and a high sticker price. How unfortunate. How untimely. What a lack of foresight.
But can you blame them? They’ve been planning this model for more than a year and had already finalized all the production, pricing and logistics of this model way before gas prices went berserk. Why not at least launch it and try to get the investment back out?
Because:
No one wants to buy these right now, so sales will be hard to come by and probably stacked with incentives.
Continuing to peddle these types of vehicles just sends the message that GM doesn’t get how difficult high gas prices are, making their brand out of touch with consumers.
The company is already losing money with the brand, and introducing a vehicle that will be on the chopping block in a year won’t make things any better.
GM’s stock is taking a beating right now (the stock was at a 50 year low just a few weeks ago) and announcing this new product launch to investors doesn’t exactly create a sense of confidence.
This was a horrible idea. GM: what are you thinking?
Original photo by Christine
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