TV Ads Say S.U.V. Owners Support Terrorists

New York Times ^ | 1/07/03 | KATHARINE Q. SEELYE

[kattracks]

ASHINGTON, Jan. 7 — Ratcheting up the debate over sport utility vehicles, new television commercials suggest that people who buy the vehicles are supporting terrorists. The commercials are so provocative that some television stations are refusing to run them.

Patterned after the commercials that try to discourage drug use by suggesting that profits from illegal drugs go to terrorists, the new commercials say that money for gas needed for S.U.V.'s goes to terrorists.

"This is George," a girl's voice says of an oblivious man at a gas station. "This is the gas that George bought for his S.U.V." The screen then shows a map of the Middle East. "These are the countries where the executives bought the oil that made the gas that George bought for his S.U.V." The picture switches to a scene of armed terrorists in a desert. "And these are the terrorists who get money from those countries every time George fills up his S.U.V."

A second commercial depicts a series of ordinary Americans saying things like: "I helped hijack an airplane"; "I gave money to a terrorist training camp in a foreign country"; "What if I need to go off-road?"

At the close, the screen is filled with the words: "What is your S.U.V. doing to our national security?"

The two 30-second commercials are the brainchild of the author and columnist Arianna Huffington. Her target audience, she said, is Detroit and Congress, especially the Republicans and Democrats who last year voted against a bill, sponsored by Senators John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, that would have raised fuel-efficiency standards.

Spokesmen for the automakers dismissed the commercials.

Eron Shosteck, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said of Ms. Huffington, "Her opinion is out-voted every year by Americans who buy S.U.V.'s for their safety, comfort and versatility." He said that S.U.V.'s now account for 21 percent of the market.

In an interview, Senator Kerry distanced himself from the commercials. He said that rather than oppose S.U.V.'s outright, he believed they should be more efficient.

"I haven't seen these commercials," he said, "but anybody can drive as large an S.U.V. as they want, though it can be more efficient than it is today."

Ms. Huffington's group, which calls itself the Detroit Project, has bought almost $200,000 of air time for the commercials, to run from Sunday to Thursday. While the group may lose some viewers if stations refuse to run the advertisements, the message is attracting attention through news coverage.

The advertisements are to be broadcast on "Meet The Press," "Face the Nation" and "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" in Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and Washington.

But some local affiliates say they will not run them. At the ABC affiliate in New York, Art Moore, director of programming, said, "There were a lot of statements being made that were not backed up, and they're talking about hot-button issues."

Ms. Huffington said she got the idea for the commercials while watching the antidrug commercials, sponsored by the Bush administration. In her syndicated column, she asked readers if they would be willing to pay for "a people's ad campaign to jolt our leaders into reality."

She said she received 5,000 e-mail messages and eventually raised $50,000 from the public. Bigger contributors included Steve Bing, the film producer; Larry David, the comedian and "Seinfeld" co-creator; and Norman Lear, the television producer.

[An.American.Expatriate]

Real easy solution to this one, open up the Alaska Fields.

[Las Vegas Dave]

...."open up the Alaska fields"

Dittos, BIG TIME!

[Issaquahking]

A death of common sense ping. People like Arianna should be kept in a padded cell.

[maica]

Have you seen the ad running by whoever sells the Hummer? I understand that they are selling well in Marin County.

The ad ends with words superimposed on the car "It all depends on what your definition of NEED is!"

[rolling_stone]

re
arianna..stupid is as stupid does...

[biblewonk]

I love this commercial, ping.

[xm177e2]

Most of our oil comes from Canada. When you drive an SUV, you're supporting Jean Chretien's imperialist occupation of Western Canada and his stealing of Albertan oil. But you're not supporting terrorism all that much.

[MrB]

I heard that the estimated oil reserves in the Gulf of Mexico exceed known reserves in Saudi. They should be drilling the heck out of that.

[newgeezer]

It doesn't matter where our oil comes from. It's a world economy. Whether we buy it from Canada or pump it from our own backyard, someone else can't. Using it -- wasting it -- increases demand, and funds radical Islam.

[biblewonk]

It doesn't matter where our oil comes from. It's a world economy. Whether we buy it from Canada or pump it from our own backyard, someone else can't. Using it -- wasting it -- increases demand, and funds radical Islam.

Exactly right. People think it hurts Iraq if we use twice as much oil but refuse their oil. WRONG. We increase the demand and increase how much money Iraq gets for their oil that goes to japan or germany or wherever.

[Wolfie]

Damn. I drive an SUV and smoke pot. Just call me "Osama Bin Wolfie".

[biblewonk]

"What if I need to go off-road?"

ROTF. As if...

[biblewonk]

You just don't get it do you?

[Thommas]

It doesn't matter where our oil comes from. It's a world economy. Whether we buy it from Canada or pump it from our own backyard, someone else can't. Using it -- wasting it -- increases demand, and funds radical Islam.

Well, it seems that if our life style is bolstering the larder of Islamofascist terrorists, only two choices confront us: 1) Surrender our lifestyles, freedoms, and religion to Islam and become a 3rd world peasant nation, or 2) Crush the pagan scum so convincingly that they won't resurface on the geopolitical sea for another thousand years.

[biblewonk]

Well, it seems that if our life style is bolstering the larder of Islamofascist terrorists, only two choices confront us: 1) Surrender our lifestyles, freedoms, and religion to Islam and become a 3rd world peasant nation, or 2) Crush the pagan scum so convincingly that they won't resurface on the geopolitical sea for another thousand years.

What!!!??? Are you saying that if we don't have their oil we lose everything and since we can we have every right of killing them all off and taking the oil?

[LTCJ]

only two choices confront us:
1) Surrender our lifestyles, freedoms, and religion to Islam and become a 3rd world peasant nation, or
2) Crush the pagan scum so convincingly that they won't resurface on the geopolitical sea for another thousand years.

DING DING DING. I hereby award the Analysis In A Nutshell prize to Thommas. Well put, sir.

[LTCJ]

What!!!??? Are you saying that if we don't have their oil we lose everything and since we can we have every right of killing them all off and taking the oil?

Where did you get that? I will venture a guess that Thommas might share my opinion that they are quite welcome to a fair price for their oil - as long as they wet themselves at even the thought of using the profits to support terroism.

[Protagoras]

I guess this could be so if the owners were Libertarians doing their illegal stash in the name of the Constitution of course! LOL

That didn't take long. What point are you trying to make?

[Protagoras]

Damn. I drive an SUV and smoke pot.

Hopefully not at the same time.

[grasshopper2]

The most effective way to end Islamic terrorism is to take away their funding. And the way to take away their funding is to reduce our consumption oil.

If we could dramatically cut back on oil consumption, imagine how that would cripple the terrorist orgaizations.

Our parents and grandparents made far greater sacrifices during WWII. Or have we as a nation become too selfish?