(a cynical view)Let's talk....
Thanks to a press pass for Internet Bloggers, this morning I was able to get behind the scenes of the 2007 Detroit International Auto Show!
Man, the cars are great. Cobo hall never looked better, and the people here are all full of excitement.
I thought I might get to see some of the Big Hollywood Celebrities that came for the gala opening, but alas, they had all left. I talked with an Auto Show staffer though who had seen them off. He told me they all had a great time. He even quoted one star who gave the general opinion of the others:
"I'll certainly be back next year! I can't say enough about the Direct Deposit hook-up they have here! Usually you have to wait around a day or so for your check, but thanks to Direct Deposit I did my little runway deal and I can be back in Hollywood for breakfast - cash in the bank! And I hear that if things keep going down-hill for the US automakers, next year they might even have a pre-paid deal going!"
I missed the $1,000 a ticket grand gala, but I hear it was a spectacular success. They say the house was packed. I understand that the only area that wasn't packed was the small section marked "Inner-City Only", where only a few rather nefarious, yet colorful, characters were seated. Though I hear their "grills" rivaled that of the new Lincoln Mark 8. And I'm told that there was more sparkle in that section then on the showplace floor....
I caught up with one of the heads of a local news outlet, though I didn't catch his name. He gave me his outlook on the affair:
"Man am I glad the Auto Show is here! It looked like we were going to have to go into the details of all those school closings, and those bothersome stories about murders, robberies, and that Iraq thing. But thanks to the Auto Show - we can stick all that junk on the tail end of the newscast at last! Call me old-fashioned if you like, but I love it when the news is happy. Great break this Auto Show!"
I even got to question a few Auto Executives about the great new production cars on display. I asked one if he thought these cars would sell well in light of all the plant closures and lay offs that have been announced in the past year. He smiled at me and in a fatherly way said:
"Son, we're automakers - not credit counselors. Our job is to make you want them, not help you afford them! "
Still, for an affair held in what Oprah Winfrey last year called the poorest big city in America, this has got to be a great way to spend a hundred or so million dollars.
Outside, I was stopped by a homeless man who grabbed my arm and demanded popcorn. I was caught off guard, but explained that I didn't have any. Seems he was ticked-off with the Auto Show being held at Cobo Hall instead of spread throughout downtown. Said he:
"Last year at the 'Super Bowl' we got to see free movies and eat free popocorn till the out-of-towners left - what's up wit this?"
I could only console him with the thought that if more hype is needed to move these cars - more hype will come. But I cautioned him that with the way the economy is heading, soon there might be more of us eating free popcorn and watching free movies than inside these affairs, so enjoy being in the minority.... while it lasts....
This morning's song - "Wish I Could Have All I See" by The Poor Of Detroit on the 2007 CD "Crime, Corruption, and Spectacle" no, seriously - "Inner City Blues" by the late Marvin Gaye from the 1971 CD (actually it was an 'album') 'What's Going On'
you know the drill - JSATCS!:
Still, I'll see you there when the doors open to the public this weekend...
We'll talk....
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