Friday 19 July 2013

MADE IN DETROIT-R.I.P

I watched in amazement at the Chevrolet Camaro in Transformers. That black strip on a yellow body made me drool more than Megan Fox and the Aussie chick that came in the last installment. Not to forget, the muscular Humvee and the GM pickup.
And then, i read the news. DETROIT GOES BUST. FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY. It felt really bad.
Remember the episode from MadMen where Chevy calls for the biggest ad agencies, and SC&P, along with GCG (or the agency where Peggy works) merge. Those were truly the golden days for America. The college goer had the muscle car, the family had the wagon and the rich had the Lincoln. You did not have to print "Made in America". You just had to say "Made in Detroit".
All those mega factories which followed Henry Ford's assembly line have fallen silent. They almost did when the Japanese came calling, and Toyota made a Sushi out of the American giants. Customer was king, and the Japanese knew the Art of War, and customer care too.
But, innovation happens when crises strikes. The Americans made their cars slightly fuel efficient, and solved the problem of mileage. How? They invaded oil rich countries. This master stroke brought back the pick up trucks, Jeeps, and anything that could be driven in Red Neck country. They went global and ensured Arnold Schwazzneger (don't bother with the spelling) acted in movies, became a politician, married a Kennedy and bought not one, or two, but seven Hummers.
Detroit's giants shifted base to China to sell the American dream, including divorce rates which came from making love in the car, and sold more to the guys who had wrote the Kamasutra. We already had the Ogilvys' and Y&Rs', only the brands were yet to come. The once great state of Detroit, where at the ring of the bell, the boxes were opened and sandwiches consumed, while workers watched another swanky car roll out of the assembly line, is now witness to hearses, that carry the murder victims as crime rates soar and communities flee.
Perhaps the hearse, also made in Detroit, is an indication of the city's demise. Generations of families which had more oil and grease than blood in their bodies, have now moved on to other cities. The Detroit Auto Show is the only saving grace, ironic considering American Cars are made in China and India, to be bought by them and the rest in Asia.
This is a bad account even Don Draper would not be able to market.

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