MADD mad at MADDatGM, and vice-versa (got that?)

Yeah, confusing, I know, but let's try and work through it. Apparently a new group, MADDatGM, is taking General Motors to task for the company's, get this, involvement with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Unbeknownst to me (and I imagine most of you), GM is big supporter of the anti-drunk driving group, giving them millions of dollars each year. Now an organized group of tavern owners, beer suppliers, bar owners, and a bunch of other retards are attacking GM, saying that MADD is not really against drunk driving, but instead wants the reinstatement of prohibition. Whatever. Check it out here. From the Detroit Free Press:

A national campaign -- called MADDatGM -- has been launched with the backing of 17,000 bars, taverns and liquor stores to attack the automaker and Mothers Against Drunk Driving, mostly for their efforts to lower legal blood-alcohol levels. The effort has so far been a low-key one, but GM officials say the Washington-based trade group behind it is threatening that its members will quit buying GM vehicles for corporate fleet use -- which could cost the automaker millions of dollars.

The campaign, which already has a Web site and says it will distribute posters and coasters at various stores and bars, argues that MADD is no longer just trying to halt drunken driving, but has become a prohibitionist group that wants to criminalize all drinking. The campaign argues that GM, with its long-running support of MADD, supports prohibition and that tavern or liquor-store owners should think twice about buying GM cars or trucks.

MADD denies that it's trying to halt social drinking, saying its mission is focused on three things: preventing drunken driving, helping victims of drunken driving and halting under-age drinking. MADD notes that the MADDatGM push is from businesses that make money off alcohol sales and are angry MADD successfully lobbied for tougher national blood-alcohol levels for drunken driving.

GM is one of MADD's top corporate sponsors, donating over $3 million the last five years and placing executives on MADD boards. GM spokesman Alan Adler says the automaker supports MADD because "our focus is on drunk driving and the 17,000 people killed each year by drunk driving on the highways."

GM made a commitment in 2000, in honor of MADD's 20-year anniversary, to donate at least $2.5 million over five years to MADD. That commitment expired at the end of 2004, and GM hasn't decided how much it will donate to MADD in 2005 and beyond, Adler said.

In Honor of the Oscars. . .

Which kind of sucked, by the way, I present this enlightening article from the NY Times on the history of advertising in the movies. It really is pretty cool to see how the two have been tied together basically since the birth of cinema. And by "cool" I mean sickening.