Keeping America Rolling

Americans must not worry. Although anthrax is repeatedly being discovered, although Osama bin Laden seems no closer to ever being discovered, the United States is in tremendous shape in the wake of Sept. 11. National pride is high, and Americans from all strata of society are rallying patriotically and resiliently.

Should we thank President Bush, or perhaps the New York emergency services? Absolutely not. Whatever you may have thought about the government’s response to the tragedy, there is really only one reason why this country is rebounding. God Bless Pontiac!

Many of you may not drive Pontiacs. Personally I have never had the pleasure. But, if you’ve had the chance to see their ad campaigns over the past few weeks, you will have noticed their outlandish claim to be “Keeping America Rolling.” Rolling with laughter perhaps? The commercials suggest that General Motors cars are now being sold with 0 percent APR as a public service in order to help Americans go about their ordinary lives—and coincidentally to buy new cars. Ford is making similarly ludicrous claims in its commercials.

Now perhaps I’m just being cynical, but might not the cut in rates be due to the fact that no one was interested in buying cars, and these companies needed to find a new way to boost their sagging profits? The patriotism of these car companies would be admirable were it not based entirely upon financial expedience. Pontiac is not out to keep America rolling—its only mission is to keep Pontiac rolling.

Unfortunately, the sorry trend of commercial exploitation of Sept. 11 does not end with the car manufacturers. AT&T now runs a somber advertisement where 20-odd pale blue place names flash up on a white screen, starting with the sites of the three plane crashes and ending up around the world. The slogan “the power to unite is greater than the power to divide” fades away into the AT&T logo. Consumers are clearly supposed to heed the implied message—because Sept. 11 demonstrated the importance of tolerance and multi-culturalism, everyone should go out and buy a cell phone or a new long-distance plan.

Why donate money to charities trying to accomplish these aims when you can have a brand new phone and fork over your cash to AT&T?

The most ludicrous example of a company rushing to show its patriotism in the past few weeks has been Fox Sports’ choice of a theme song. Not content to introduce their NFL coverage with a fluttering flag and an instrumental version of “America the Beautiful,” Fox now begins its sports programs with shots of fighter jets taking off from aircraft carriers with the backing of Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries,” an obvious homage to the attack scenes in Apocalypse Now. The glib stupidity of Fox is almost breathtaking. Anyone who has even the faintest idea of that movie’s contents will instantly realize that it is not a pro-war picture.

Moreover, “Ride of the Valkyries” is played during a violent early morning napalm attack, led by a sadistic commander, on a bunch of innocent villagers. In its eagerness to display more patriotism than its rivals, Fox Sports seems to be suggesting that it will lead ordinary Americans to support of random attacks of indiscriminate violence as reprisal for the, well, random attacks of indiscriminate violence against Americans on the 11th.

The legacy of Sept. 11 should not be a retreat into the values of crass commercialism. No one is suggesting that Americans should not try to carry on as normal as much as possible—and no one is saying that private companies should not continue to compete for consumers’ business.

However, the loss of thousands of lives should not be mutated into a nauseating ad campaign. Companies ought to think more about the front line and less about their bottom line, more about Ground Zero and less about 0 percent APR. The true way to keep America rolling is to ignore these trite advertisements and to focus more upon what distinguishes America from the forces of terror that attacked us. The ability for all, regardless of race, religion or gender, to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is at least a little more important than the impressive range of Pontiacs—even if they are currently on sale.