Just as they did with World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner, Chevrolet awarded a 2015 Colorado Z71 to Super Bowl XLIX MVP Tom Brady following last night’s game. This time the transaction went smoothly, free of a repeat of the World Series’ embarrassing “Technology and Stuff” presentation.
While Chevrolet could have benefitted from bringing the “Technology and Stuff” guy (Chevy zone manager Rikk Wilde) back out for a second shot at handing over the keys to a professional athlete, it didn’t need the marketing boost this time around. Chevy’s creative disrupted signal commercial netted the Colorado a surprising amount of media exposure, mainly because it made all of America’s hearts simultaneously drop out of fear.
We have a feeling millionaire Tom Brady is used to shopping for more expensive cars and trucks than the 2015 Colorado, but it’s the thought that counts, right? Maybe he still appreciates a good honest truck despite his immense success. Either way, presenting the NFL’s MVP with a Colorado is a huge marketing boost for Chevy, we’re just curious why they didn’t give Brady the GMC Canyon variant instead.
Comments
Were the tires properly inflated?
I am not sure I am understanding this right. So they charge any Joe Blow who actually works for a living for measly pay $40,000 for this glorified mini truck, yet GM GIVES one to a multi millionaire who could easily write a check for a Bugatti? Incredible.
How about giving one away in this same setting but to a single mother working two jobs? She would actually use it, and appreciate it, GM would still get airtime, and it would also at least convey the appearance this lardass company cares about real people.
You’re starting to sound like Ritter with your ‘give one away’ nonsense.
That, and if you’re a single mother working two jobs, the last thing you need is a pickup’s gas bill, even if it’s a mid-size pickup and even if it has best in class fuel economy.
You’re still getting hung up on the prices, confusing the prices of pickups in different segment 20 years ago with ones in a completely different segment today without ever considering inflation.
If your job/career doesn’t provide enough money for you to buy such vehicles, then why are you looking at them in the first place? Rationalize your wants versus your needs, work harder, or go back to school and get the skills that make you more competitive; that’s how you can get the pickups (or any car for that matter) that you want. Don’t be foolish thinking pickup prices would be cast in stone for decades on end tailored just for you and your selfish needs.
Thanks for the advice. I have seen the light. It DOES make sense for them to give Brady this truck because he clearly needs it and a single mother could never afford the gas bill. I take everything back. I was foolish.
You are foolish if you think Brady is actually going drive around in the Colorado for the next few years.
GM gets a few press photos and video of Brady behind the wheel with the family, he signs whatever contractual agreement GM’s marketing department wants, and this Colorado will be on some unheard of auction block this time next year; it’s place in history unimportant. The money has exchanged hands and the promotional mileage GM gets from this will be moot next year when they award the next Super Bowl MVP with a car.
I mean, you yourself admitted that Brady can roll around in a Bugatti, so why settle for a Colorado?
As for the single mother of two, why would she need a mid-size pickup truck? Is there lots of stuff she needs to haul home from the Depot? Perhaps she’s making regular trips to quarry for crusher dust, or maybe she has an ATV and Jetski to tow.
I don’t know, but if you know a single mother of two who’s interests and money are being spent on filling up and hauling stuff with a pickup instead of on feeding, clothing, and educating two children, then you might have found the worst mother in the world; something that no automaker would ever reward such irresponsibility of hers with a truck.
So if Brady is undeserving of a Colorado, and single mother of two doesn’t need one as a primary means of transportation in her already cash-strapped life, then what the fuck are you going on about?
Yeah, I had to be vulgar. Sometimes you just have to be to get your point across.
Ok. Let’s keep it simple.
1. GM gave away a new vehicle
2. Some hard working people cannot afford a car.
3. Tom Brady is not one of those people.
Do I need to draw a picture?
1) GM’s not giving away anything. Someone has to pay the tax on that truck; either GM or Brady. So Nobody is getting anything for free. If anything, the Brady in the pickup are photo-op material and nothing more. Next Super Bowl is another MVP behind the wheel and another photo-op.
2) Those hard working people who cannot afford a car shouldn’t be looking at vehicles in the habitually more expensive pickup segment.
Giving the truck away won’t help that single mother of two. By and large, pickups (midsize or fullsize) are more expensive to own, insure, operate, and fuel than a car. If a hard working single mother of 2 is looking for transportation, her needs are likely to be better served with a car even if it is a boring FWD automatic sedan.
Even if she took the cash value of the pickup, Uncle Sam would come down on her for the tax on the value of the truck. Kinda like the thing that happened to the G6 owners after Oprah “gave” them away. I’m fairly certain that the tax on a $30,000 Z71 Colorado would unfairly cripple the mother financially.
Idealizing and romanticizing the idea of pickup ownership doesn’t override, ignore, or downplay the current circumstances of one persons life at present. The working class and their struggles don’t automatically qualify themselves for owning vehicles beyond their means UNLESS such a vehicle is imperative to their work. It’s why I still maintain the idea that only the hard working contractors and farmers need pickups for their work. I should know, I worked as a construction labourer for over a decade and pickups were indispensable. Those in their lifted Sierra Crew Cabs with Monster Energy stickers are simply showboating and have never worked a 5-9 day in their life; people undeserving to own a pickup and have their handiwork pay for the truck.
In fact, in every social class, living within your means is an ideal, sustainable, long-term approach to fiscal management; not just for the wealthy, working man, or the single mother of two.
Take this nugget of truth with you: It doesn’t matter if you’re blue, white collar or somewhere in between. You don’t throw away your money on self-motivated, short-term irresponsible status-building junk. Know what your immediate needs are, and CAREFULLY budget them. If you have kids, put their needs before yours.
You don’t need a 2015 Z71 Colorado, mother Magirus. Your kids need shoes. Get in your 1998 Civic and go get them.
3) No shit.
Go on, draw a picture, because I still don’t think you’re entitled to a Colorado.
You sound awfully entitled. What GM does, what Tom Brady gets- does not concern you.
You have no idea how much GM gives away to charities. This wasn’t about charities, this is advertising and they can advertise how they chose. I believe the mvp getting a car is a pretty long standing tradition as well.
Brady should give that truck to Butler.
Now there is something I would agree with. MVP’s may throw several touchdowns but not two picks too.
Butler saved his A$$.
So with GMC being so tied to the NFL how was this not a Canyon?
Hey Grawdaddy,
How about the NFL NOT giving a goddam multi – millionaire a new truck and have Chevy donate one of their small cars in the MVP’s name to a family that does not have transportation? How about the NFL have some goddam social responsibility?
How about we all start caring about humans instead of purely entertainment stars like Tom Brady? He plays football. Its a goddam game we all played. He doesn’t save lives
I agree. To me, Brady is just a name attached to face. I’m not an American, and chances are I’ll hear nothing of him or the Super Bowl tomorrow. To me, I see the Super Bowl as the closest thing America has to a national holy day; everyone is watching it. I don’t care about the Super Bowl, the NFL, or football anyway, and therefore I can’t see the interest in watching millionaires shuffle back and forth across a field and patting each others ass.
But then, it begs the question, is it an automotive corporation’s responsibility to simply handout cars and trucks at the request of the MVP? Who pays the tax on the car? Who pays maintenance, insurance and fuel costs? Is the vehicle right for the needy family? Does the aforementioned single mother of two need Sierra HD dually or a Sonic sedan? It’s that needy familys needs that should be considered, and a Z71 Colorado may NOT be just the thing they need if they are trying to keep costs in check.
It’s why I think money for the needy family would be a better option; the cash value of the truck (taxes paid) given to a needy family. That way, the money could be carefully spent on their needs. If transportation is a need, it too needs to be carefully considered. The Colorado isn’t one vehicle that can satisfy all peoples transportation needs; it wasn’t what the truck was designed for.
Most likely Bradys truck will be given to a charity he’s attached to, and truck will be auctioned off. The money then can help people in ways that a single gift of a truck couldn’t. $30,000 can buy a much more practical and sensible car, with plenty left over for over for the immediate demands of a needy family. You can’t eat and clothe a family with that pickup.
Ugh. Off the soapbox yet, Mr. Liberal?
Before this gets anymore out of hand lets get a few things corrected here.
#1 GM gives the truck to the MVP to get cheap air time on the broadcast to the latgest TV audiance of the year and in some cases history.
#2 They get some shots of the truck with a big name player for nothing as they do not have to pay for it. In this case they also get the Model wife too. Suprificial but it does grab many in the public sector.
#3 Generally these celebreties will often donate the car to a chairity or to a non profit group supported by many of the big name players. They all have these and often these vehicles find a good home where they do a lot of good.
As for why Chevy and not GMC well the MVP is a different thing all together and generally what ever vehicle GM wants to feature.
No ophans and single mothers are dissed here.
This is simple folks. GM/Chevy gets marketing time and presents this award to a star athlete after the highest watched Superbowl yet. Star athlete then accepts the award and is seen with the truck all the while smiling at whatever honor he embraces this as. Star athlete soon after all the hub-bub is over: A) Autographs and sells truck to highest bidder and donates money to charity of his choice, or B) Simply autographs and donates truck to an individual or charity of his choice. Everyone up in arms over who a truck goes to rich or poor is ridiculous. If you are a fan of this type of truck and with it being the newest in its respective segment, we should embrace this type of marketing tool Chevrolet utilized for the Colorado.
At least I am not the only one who understands how reality works. LOL!
Thanks for the post.
Some folks really don’t see the big picture.
scott3 and MRB got it right. I do not have a problem with how this was handled and I think both sides come out ahead.
Paul we can only post reality as you can not argue with Idiots. Good to have you on the reality train!
Wow the comment thread on this story got side-tracked quick!
It was The Chevy Post game hence the Chevy.
Hey Scott3…did you read this quote:
“The Detroit News reported earlier today (Feb. 2,2015) that Super Bowl XLIX gameday MVP Tom Brady handed the keys of his rightfully won 2015 Chevrolet Colorado to teammate and hero of the game Malcolm Butler…It’s almost tradition for the Most Valuable Player of the NFL Superbowl to receive some type of car from General Motors. In recent years, Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens was rewarded with a shiny new Corvette for leading the Ravens to a Super Bowl victory in 2013. But this time, Tom Brady always the class act, threw the keys of his 2015 Chevrolet Colorado to the real MVP of the fourth quarter, 24 year old Malcolm Butler.”
So tell me, what charity benefitted from this act? Did Flaco’s Corvette in 2013 make it to the auction block for Cancer?Millionaire’s trading cars like hockey cards while a majority of the country can’t afford health care.
Good he deserved it.
Brandon you really have no idea how the real world works and your socialistic progressive thinking is a nice theory but not reality.
No matter if you like it or not it is their buisness what they do with it. Most of these folks do give back in many ways than you will ever know.
Sorry there is no utopian society out there and there will never be.
You might stop worrying about everyone else and just worry about what you can do. Actions speak louder than words.
When was the last time you carried a wheelchair or helped someone in need on your own. I know first hand you do not have to be a progressive socialist to do so.
Here is a quote you may not like but is so true.
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.
Winston Churchill
You may not like our system here but it is the best there is.
I understand what you are saying scott3. I am not unaware of how the world works. Understanding and agreeing with are two different things. If we do not speak up, nothing changes. The original story (unbelievably) speaks about ‘why they didn’t give Brady the GMC Canyon variant instead’ when it should have been asking ‘what type of marketing campaign can GM conduct that also provides an element of social responsibility’. We can have trophies (not cars) for MVP’s (as they did many moons ago), GM can make money AND provide a positive image to the world where they help people so why not do it? ‘Here is the new 2015 Chevy, signed by Tom Brady, to be sold in his name with all of the proceeds going to a charity of Tom’s choice’. What a novel idea!
We are supposed to be advancing our thinking in 2015. We are supposed to be better than societies before us. We are supposed to be evolving. Professional atheletes with multi-million dollar salaries do not need gift trucks/cars…period. So lets make sure we don’t give them any in the future (especially from a company still paying back taxpayers who bailed them out from bankrupcy). Companies can make money and help people too without giving a truck to a person who can purchase a dealership.
“Once poverty is gone, we’ll need to build museums to display its horrors to future generations. They’ll wonder why poverty continued so long in human society – how a few people could live in luxury while billions dwelt in misery, deprivation and despair.”
― Muhammad Yunus
No millionaire MVP’s are dissed here.
Why bother arguing about this? America wants this. We want to see Tom Brady with a big red truck. In fact we love to see rich people having fun and getting more stuff. Right? Tom needs cars too. And boats!
Tom used to have a moat around his house so he definitely needs a boat. And a plane…to reach the back yard of his mansion.
Ahhhh….the good ol’ US of A!
Brandon the fact is life is basically two sided. Good/Evil Rich / Poor, Fat/ Skinny, Responsible/Irresponsible, Strong/ Weak etc.
The reality is we are always going to have rich and poor and hating rich people is not going to change a thing. Russia and China have tried the one class system and all it lead to was failure. Poor medial systems, most all people doing with poor economics as a whole. China is now doing what I like to call controlled capitalism. They are willing to let people run companies as long as they get a cut but still they are not free even to read the internet.
With capitalism there are going to be winners and losers and poverty will never be totally eradicated. Sad but a fact of life. You can try to make everything equal with socialism but then everyone suffers and to improve ones place is nearly impossible. With Capitalism at least you have an opportunity to pull yourself up. With social justice everyone just gets by.
The first things if you want to improve this is start to repair the true causes of what causes much of the failure of many. Alcoholism, Drug Addiction, Lack of parental responsibilities of raising their kids. My father was dirt poor and never had a social program to get himself ahead. But with support of his mother and hard work he not only over came his social position and later paralyses of both legs to live a long fruitful life. He never once expected a hand out from anyone and made it.
We see the same thing with many who come here with nothing from Asia, Their family structure is strong and their work etic is second to none. Most have really prospered here with only the work of their own to get there.
But today we have a country full of people who like to play the victim and milk the system for all it has. They want what other have but fail to understand many {I know not all] have worked hard to get what they have.
There are people that are in honest straits and they should get an assist but not a free ride for the rest of their lives. We are now to the point that over 50% of the people in this country get some kind of government help.
This is dangerous as once that happened they start voting the treasury and in time it will be empty or 18 billion in debt.
It is time to recognize that many large companies and wealthy people give back. Many do not flaunt it and do it quietly. We should praise these people and understand over all most are doing good things and just don’t need the spot light. GM donates to many good causes but the media never covers them.
You can do all you like to make a spectacle of one truck and it means little in the big picture.
I never understood how we try to make villains of people who are rich especially when they are self made and did it the honest way. They are a lesson that should be learned from as they can teach others what they did.
Case in point I work for a large company a man started in the bed room of his house. He has given many jobs and we all are doing well in our lives because of what he has done and continues to do. He gives back to many in need and also give to the soldiers over seas with gifts of items to help them in their tours of duty. He keeps it all quiet but has taught us the value of giving and how to stand on our own.
Yet we have good paying jobs but yet many we try to higher can not show up for work everyday. Also many show up and get bounced because they can not stay off drugs. People try to say it is an illness when the truth is it is a weakness.
So if you want to do some good do something vs. complaining because some football player got a truck. There are much better ways to try to right the wrongs of the world and much worse things going on. At least Brady did not set fire to some one in a cage. You want to see some real evil watch that video and be thankful you live in a country you are not going to have that happen to you.
Now I know you will want to stick to your social justice and not agree and that is your right. But I have lived the life of no hand outs. I paid for my own collage, I worked all my different jobs to get to where I am. I am not a millionaire but I have a good life and want for little. If I can do It anyone can. I kept off the drugs and drinking. the one advantage I had was two good parents that guided me and taught me right from wrong and a good work etic.
To sum this up. Years ago I was told by a collage professor that if you show up every day at work nearly all companies will love you. I look around and that is true today. They have to settle for mediocre with many employees as their production while low is better than nothing.
It is time to stop worried about what others have and work smart and hard and get ahead. Breaks do happen but you have to put yourself in place to get them as it is not pure chance like winning the lottery.