GM to Edit Super Bowl Suicidal Robot Spot

DETROIT (AdAge.com) -- General Motors Corp. will edit out a scene from one of its Super Bowl commercials after a discussion today with an advocacy group. A GM spokesman said a scene showing a yellow assembly-plant robot jumping off a bridge would be taken out. The automaker is also in the process of taking the commercial off its website, gm.com, and the video-sharing site YouTube, the spokesman said. The 60-second spot, from Interpublic Group of Cos.' Deutsch, Los Angeles, only aired on TV once during the Super Bowl and was scheduled to air on CBS during this Sunday evening's broadcast of the Grammy Awards, he said. GM will run another undisclosed commercial instead, because the so-called Robot spot won't be edited in time. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention issued a release earlier this week asking GM to pull the commercial off the websites and from future TV appearances. In the commercial, an assembly-line robot dreams it loses its job after making a small mistake at work -- dropping a tiny screw -- and commits suicide by jumping off a bridge. GM said the spot meant to show its obsession with quality and to tout its powertrain warranty on all its 2007 cars and trucks. The automaker wasn't alone it having advocacy groups chastise Super bowl ads. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and others blasted Mars for its Snickers Super Bowl ad, which showed two men accidentally kiss and their over-the-top "manly" reactions.

GM to Edit Super Bowl Suicidal Robot Spot

Featured Stories