SUVs support oil companies, and terrorism too

Yesss!

The only way we will wean this country from its monster passenger truck obsession is to shame it. I used to think the SUV would eventually be abandoned when Americans perceived it as uncool, since so much of its popularity is all about fashion, but in such an uncool society that may take too long. Arianna has a better way.

Ratcheting up the debate over sport utility vehicles, new television commercials [the brainchild of Arianna Huffington] 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.

The ABC affiliate in New York will not be running the ads, scheduled to be broadcast on "Meet The Press," "Face the Nation" and "This Week With George Stephanopoulos." New York must either love the SUV more inordinately than other cities or some of us are unable to take such "hot-button issues," as the local ABC director of programming describes the subject of the ads. He also said that a lot of the statements being made were not backed up, but I'm guessing the affiliate was less concerned about textual support for the arguments made by the Bush administation's antidrug spots.

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Published on January 8, 2003 12:41 PM.

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