GM Pulls "Survivor" Sponsorship

The timing may just be coincidental, but General Motors has pulled its sponsorship of the CBS reality show "Survivor", just a few days after the show announced it's new race-based team structure:

General Motors Corp. has decided to end its sponsorship of CBS' hit series "Survivor," but the world's largest automaker said Wednesday that the decision had nothing to do with the reality show's controversial decision to divide its contestants in the upcoming season by race and ethnicity.

GM spokeswoman Ryndee S. Carney said the company made the decision in the normal course of making its media buys months ago, before the show made its recent announcement.

"I think it's just a coincidence. I know it's not cause and effect," Carney said....

GM, which has sponsored "Survivor" since it premiered in May 2000, is shifting some of its media dollars from prime-time television to more live sports, awards shows and other big events, Carney said.

The Detroit-based company also decided that its media strategy should feature cars and trucks integrated into shows, which was difficult on "Survivor," she said. Although one episode did feature a Pontiac Aztek, the opportunities for cars and trucks on the show were few, Carney said.

"There's a limited number of possibilities as to how you can integrate a car or truck in a show that people spend their whole time on an island," she said.

Maybe next year they can do "Survivor: Hippie Bus" and have the castaways roaming the country in an old GM Flexible Flyer bus. That could win them back the GM sponsor dollars.