GM gets poor reception for YouTube bailout propaganda

General Motors has posted a propaganda video to YouTube in an attempt to gain support for a bailout of the US car industry.

The bailout itself is currently in dispute, with House Democrats calling on the Bush Administration to dip into the financial industry rescue package, and Bush arguing that Congress should restructure a previous $25 billion subsidy scheme originally targeted at the development of environmentally friendly vehicles.

The reception on YouTube so far hasn’t been positive, with the video gaining only 2 stars and a pile of negative comments. As Owen Thomas points out on Valleywag, the video has resulted in “predictably disastrous results. GM marketers have clearly fallen for the myth of Internet PR — that taking a company’s message directly to the people through social media will give it a much friendlier reception than if it is filtered through the mainstream media. The reality?”