GM Seeing Green and Yellow
By Stewart Truelsen
More than a dozen major U.S. cities held auto shows in February attracting millions of potential car buyers. For the most part, visitors found exactly what they expected to find — shiny new cars in the latest models, colors and options. But there was one thing they probably didn’t expect to see — cornfields on large video screens at the General Motors exhibit.
Corn and cornfields are a big part of GM’s “Live Green Go Yellow” advertising campaign and its commitment to E85, a fuel that is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
GM’s impressive lineup of flex-fuel vehicles, 13 models altogether, attracted a lot of attention, and so did the hybrid cars featured by other manufacturers. But some of the attention to hybrids was focused on the sticker price. Hybrids that use both electricity and gasoline for power can cost around $10,000 more. There’s no sticker shock with E85 vehicles. They cost about the same as those that run on regular fuel.
In addition to the auto show blitz, GM is running full page newspaper ads, television commercials and radio spots. Its website (www.livegreengoyellow.com) is a fun place to visit. One thing you will find there is a “cornulator” to estimate how many barrels of oil are saved by driving an E85 vehicle. For instance, a 2006 Chevy Tahoe driven 15,000 miles will save 12 barrels of oil annually and use nearly 22,000 ears of corn.
Unfortunately, the clever people who designed the ad campaign add to the traditional consumer confusion over field corn, eaten by livestock, and sweet corn, enjoyed by people. Otherwise the campaign that especially targets young adults is loaded with good information about ethanol.
According to Phoenix Marketing International, GM’s campaign should be a big hit with the motoring public. In an online survey conducted by its Phoenix Automotive division, “fully 87 percent of vehicle owners said they would feel much or somewhat better about any manufacturer offering flex-fuel vehicles and supporting ethanol delivery infrastructure.”
The same survey found that only 13 percent of vehicle owners now perceive GM as an extremely or very environmentally sensitive company. “But if GM were to establish leadership in ethanol development and flex-fuel vehicles, 76 percent would see GM as environmentally sensitive,” said the marketing report.
GM certainly isn’t alone in offering flex-fuel vehicles. Ford and Daimler Chrysler are right there, too, although Ford is steering more toward hybrids. GM is making the biggest push with E85. Its goal is to sell 400,000 flex-fuel vehicles this year. Both GM and Ford are working with energy companies to expand the number of E85 fueling stations around the country.
Ethanol is helping the farm economy grow, and according to Bill Saunders, president of Phoenix Automotive, “Ethanol could be the alternative fuel source that catapults sales of American auto manufacturers.” That’s a boost GM could certainly use right now.
Farmers can look back with pride at how far ethanol has come from the days when they were the only ones excited about it. Biodiesel is coming on strong too. Live green, go yellow, go renewable fuels from the farm.
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Stewart Truelsen is a regular contributor to the Focus on Agriculture series
Focus is posted to AFBF’s web site at http://www.fb.org/views/focus/index.html
