No, we’re not talking about the board game from Hasbro. This is real life and it’s real serious. Just before the holiday, the FCC voted 3-2 (with Republicans obviously in favor) to lift a 30-year old ban on federal law that prevented conglomerates from owning both print media and radio/television networks within the same zip code; meanwhile dismissing testimony from packed public hearings nationwide. In fact, Kevin Martin suggested it was never up for debate when he submitted an op-ed to the New York Times prior to some hearing dates. A Times editorial touches upon the detrimental FCC decision and Martin’s unilateral approach to the vote. Moral of the story: Bush crony #5734 paid off by big business to serve the interest of big business.
Nearly a 3-minute epic, Chevron released this commercial in reponse to the mounting pressures of the green ‘movement.’ The company’s $15 million green marketing campaign kicked off in September 07′ with the airing of this ad during a 60 Minutes segment on CBS, contributing to the branding of Chevron while humanizing one of the most attacked industries of our day. It’s profound, dramatic and optimistic but offers no evidence of green practices. Chevron may be no Exxon-Mobile but, seriously, this is the last industry deserving of sympathy from consumers. A surplus for swanky propaganda: just another luxury of price gouging at the pump.
