Stupid PR stunts

Stupid PR stunts are generally the province of crazed rock station DJs.

Now the CEOs of the Detroit Three automobile companies have joined this not very distinguished group. Responding to - arguably justified - criticism about their use of executive jets on their begging mission to Washington two weeks ago, all have chosen to drive, using hybrid cars made by their companies, to Washington for their Congressionally mandated do over.

The things that turn this into a stupid PR stunt - and reduce their credibility - are these:

1. Detroit is approximately 520 miles from Washington DC. Unless you have a family, when the cost of airfares increases by the number of persons, and really need a car at the other end, driving doesn't make economic sense.

2. Hybrid vehicles don't really get much better mileage than regular cars at highway speeds. The real savings are found in stop and go city driving. If they had wanted to save fuel, they should have driven in modern diesel powered cars.

Unfortunately, none of the Detroit Three make modern diesel powered cars.

3. Driving at the speed limit - mostly 65 and 70 mph on this trip - and allowing for reasonable stops for food, fuel, and bathroom breaks, this is a ten to eleven hour trip. Again, unless the objective is to save a lot of money, flying from Detroit to Washington DC only takes about four and one half hours - even allowing for check in hassles and air traffic delays.

These CEOs should have better things to do than driving for ten hours. Or did they employ drivers at substantial additional cost?

The American people are not so stupid as to be taken in by this publicity stunt. Nor are they so vindictive that they would consider forcing these executives to buy coach class air tickets instead of travelling first class.

The CEOs might, however, have been wise to have experienced, at first hand, the hassles and discomfort that most of the rest of us must endure at the hands of the airline industry. Had they done so, they would have held the moral high ground over publicity seeking Senators and Representatives who have long forgotten what airline [no] service really means.