Huffington Post Terrified by “American Dream” Commercial

Cadillac came out with a new commercial. And the Huffington Post hated it, so you know it’s pretty awesome. The ad is an homage to America’s tradition of hard work – and a slam against European Socialism. (Of course, it does this while selling, of all things, an electric hybrid.) Huff Po immediately elected to decry the ad… Because if the Liberal media’s penchant for business has taught us anything, it’s that earning money isn’t the “most important” thing.

Now, prepare yourself to be motivated for a few more hours at the office (and this is coming from a guy who hates electric cars almost as much as he hates Cadillac):

Wow… An American car company exercising the American idea that you can earn anything you want (including a Cadillac ELR – if you’re into that sort of thing) with a little dreaming and elbow grease… Clearly this is a horrible message to send to the masses. Huff Po decided to begin their ~~trashing~~ critique of the ad in the following manner:

There are plenty of things to celebrate about being American, but being possessed by a blind mania for working yourself into the ground, buying more stuff, and mocking people in other countries just isn't one of them.

Let’s be honest: We really only mock the French. It might be safe to point out that no-one enjoys the prospect of 40 plus hours per week of the “daily grind”. (For those of you who are liberal, unemployed, or French, the “daily grind” refers to “work”.) But, c’mon… When did we start knocking hard work in this country? I kinda thought that was what was supposed to earn you that Rockefeller bank account. Don’t we like the guy that works his tail off to provide his kids with a backyard pool? (I guess I forgot that we live in a world that clamors for a $15 per-hour minimum wage.)

a completely shameless celebration of our work-hard-buy-more culture, with a blanket dismissal of ‘other countries’ and their laziness tossed in for good measure.

Shameless? Really? I always thought that aspirations for a better life, through hard work and tireless hours, was what the American dream was all about. But the Huffington continued on:

"Why aren't you like that?" he [Neil McDonough] says. "Why aren't we like that? Because we're crazy, driven, hard-working believers, that's why." By this point, the ad has already become little more than a parody of itself, but we had to ask: believers in what? The pursuit of "stuff."

Um… Like it or not, “stuff” is kinda responsible for driving the economy. In fact, it is the economy. Even the very liberal Paul Krugman is under the impression that people buying stuff will help other people earn more money to buy stuff of their own. So what is wrong with McDonough spending his money purchasing stuff from people with other stuff for sale? Or are we all supposed to disregard the antiquated notion of hard work, and wait for government to redistribute McDonough’s stuff to people who are under-stuffed, so that they don’t have to work for their stuff? (Wow… This just turned into a [profanity laced] George Carlin sketch.) Oh, and by the way, what’s wrong with being “believers”? Did I miss a meeting with the re-writing of Americanism?

The Mad Men who pitched Cadillac their endlessly ‘merican idea made another mistake, according to the Huffington Post: They referenced the glory-days of the Space Race. (Ya know… When the Soviet model of “work less – make more” failed to win the race to the moon.)

The other reason for America's superiority, according to Cadillac? Our unrivalled space exploration program ("We're the only ones going back up [to the moon]," the ad boasts). Nevermind the fact that the U.S. government is now paying Russia $70 million a pop to shuttle NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.

Alright… Valid point. Of course our beloved anti-work-liberal-rag fails to mention that our astronauts are currently hitching rides to the Russian controlled space-station because their Stuff-Redistributor-in-Chief (Obama) grounded our shuttles. “Look! We got to the moon first, and we are leading the way in space exploration! … Now can we treat Russia like some overpriced space-cabbie so we can study the impact zero-gravity has on the scent of flowers?” (Really… That was an actual study. Yes, we have fallen far from the days of Alan Shepard hitting golf balls off the face of our lunar satellite.)

Of course, the Huffington Post wasn’t quite done with their incredulous (and self-righteous) critique of Cadillac’s ode to hard work:

Now, the luxury car company is selling a vision of the American Dream at its worst: Work yourself into the ground, take as little time off as possible, and buy expensive sh*t (specifically, a 2014 Cadillac ELR).

Hey, Huff Post: How else are you supposed to afford a pool, 2.5 kids, a huge kitchen, tailored suit, and a $75,000 Cadillac? Subsidies? (I acknowledge that inheritance is an option… But, let’s face it: Hard work even earned the Kennedy’ their fortune. Although, it was earned illegally and is currently being wasted by liberal elites who disdain everything about “work”.)

See, according to the Huff Po, we’re supposed to disdain the idea of hard work and well-earned reward. Apparently, the only people worthy of pools, ELR’s, and expensive suits, are trust fund babies who land some comfy internship on the East Coast, where they learn how to spend other people’s money. Of course, I’m sure they get that Chevy Volt (a liberal-elite status symbol cleverly designed as a spontaneously combustible electric vehicle) because they have to have it. After all, what else will they brag about when they go to that cocktail fundraiser for Bill de Blasio’s most recent “progressive” cause?

Liberals aren’t infuriated with overpriced stuff. (How else do you explain Urban Outfitters?). The real problem Huffington Post has with the commercial is their glamorization of “hard work”. (Which makes sense if you are familiar with the HP's journalistic sloppiness.) Didn’t we used to live in a world that praised “hard work”? Since when did the accumulation of wealth (and *gasp* STUFF!) become a sin?

Of course, this kinda explains the tax theory behind Democrat budgets… The progressive tax is really just a “sin tax”…One commentator on the YouTube video unwittingly dismantled the Huffington Post objection with a strangely liberal comment:

Good for you, YouTube commenter… And enjoy your vacation at some un-known resort during “coupon week.” The rest of us are going to work our tails off to give our kids a better life, our family a better vacation (even if it is only two weeks), and maybe even a bit more stuff… I always thought America liked to earn luxury.

“Yeah, the Government Motors stigma us the driving force behind this ad. AND I have no doubt that the “outrage” over it by Libs is pretty much contrived in a quasi-effort to triangulate the auto bailout.”

May be. But, I nevertheless plead guilty to liking the add. What low information voters are incapable of understanding is that had GM had been forced to declare bankruptcy and restructure it would have come out the other side a leaner, more efficient and more profitable company. Just a side note; when I hear some liberal claim that GM has paid back all it’s obligations I think about the 2,000 shares of common stock that turned to dirt for my wife and me for which we didn’t receive a penny of remuneration. No, the amount of shares wasn’t a great amount of stock but we aren’t rich and it hurt. And, there were/are thousands of people like us. GM was known as a “widows and orphans” stock because it paid pretty good dividends. Thereby, a lot of stock holders were people if modest means.

I noticed in the commercial that he unplugged the ELR before getting in.

I haven’t kept up on Cadillacs (thanks to Obama, owning a new Cadillac is about as likely as owning a new Rolls), but it appears the ELR is a plug in hybrid.

Shouldn’t the HP loons be swooning about it’s green-nes?

I like the ad too.

But my background in marketing (mostly academic with some practical) leads me to conclude that I’m being manipulated. Both by the ad, and by the histrionic reaction to it by Liberal groups.

The Obameconomy is going to be a major issue in 2016. “Bin Laden Dead/GM Alive” worked well in 2012. OBL’s death will have faded as an issue, but the performance of GM could be front an center. The Dems NEED people to buy GM cars ...

Read the angry comments from the hipster HuffPoers...you can just feel the covetousness, that Stalinist rage. I saw a bumper sticker.."Annoy a liberal work hard a get rich". I am so encouraged and am actually doing well, while a good chunk of the populace is sitting around like a HuffPoer... angry, unemployed, addled and thinking Magic Negro is a going to make things right. I am out hustling, making it happen, saving my cash. It infuriated them...it infuriates them that one of the comments there is absolutely true..one idiot posted.."those 1% think they are better than the rest of us.". That poster and millions others know its true...THEY ARE. The 1% have better focus, better sense with their money, better attitudes, better families, better at just about anything your damaged butt can muster. Keep whining hipsters, I'll keep making the money, sending my kids to college without loans, own a nice, warm safe home , have great experiences and travel with my honey and most important have enough money to give my OWN money to help others. Somethng that is eating away at your soul, how corrupt, lazy and greedy you truly are. Bravo Cadillac!

P.S...I think spending 75k on a car is NUTS, but don't begrudge someone who wants to do that.

This commercial is just manipulative crap. The target demographic gets its buttons pushed and loves it. Honestly, you’d think conservatives endlessly yelping about the free market would be a bit more savvy about how the free market works.

I also don’t agree with the cultural emphasis on buying ‘stuff’. I leave that up to the individual, but I can still criticize it as on a cultural value basis if I want to.

But here is the difference. Liberals use ‘stuff’ to define equality (or rather lack of equality) and use ‘stuff’ to engender all manner of ENVY in the less-stuff class. They define ‘stuff’ as wealth when wealth is something completely different

Also, they aren’t against ‘stuff’, they just want you to buy the kind of ‘stuff’ they approve of.

And as the article pointed out, their hero Krugman is ALL THE TIME promoting mass consumption of ‘stuff’ as the be all and end all of economic ‘growth’. That is literally all he talks about day in and day out.

So yeah ... the hypocrisy ... it burns.

“But my background in marketing (mostly academic with some practical) leads me to conclude that I’m being manipulated.”

Well, isn’t manipulation and mind shaping an objective of all advertisementing? But, nevertheless I agree with the thesis of your posting. Btw, GM still has not resolved its labor and pension cost problem. And, It’s still not running a net profit as a stand alone entity. Hopefully, we will have a conservative POTUS when it’s next bust comes. Hey, a guy can dream can’t he? :)

Yeah, my typing didn’t keep up with my thought process and I left off the part about the manipulation being done in significant part for political purposes.

The Libs have a HUGE political stake in the success of GM. They need GM to sell cars, and to people who are able to get past (or just forget) the Government Motors stigma.

So you have an ad that makes it an act of American patriotism to buy a Caddy, coupled with a contrived outrage response that adds to the patriotic appeal the peception that doing so will tick off Liberals too.

I hope to see GM crash and burn in to the ash heap of history. This is a government owned company that had their cronies in the US government STEAL from millions of Americans to feed their UAW trough. Pathetic excuse for a company.

Huffington Post is just upset because “Cadillac” is a term reserved for berating evyil rich 1%rs. If this same vehicle used a Prius they’d be wiping the slobber off their chins.

Great post.

Great ad.

First time I’ve even heard about it.

I didn’t watch the Super Bowl.

I was working.

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