????短短一周內，通用汽車（General Motors Co.）兩度震動全球廣告界。先是宣布暫停向當前炙手可熱的廣告平臺——社交網站Facebook投放付費廣告。幾天后，這家汽車公司又宣布，將不再購買明年的超級碗（Super Bowl）電視轉播廣告，超級碗可是汽車廠商歷來必爭之地。天啦，底特律這是怎么啦？

????直截了當的解釋是，通用汽車新任全球市場營銷負責人喬伊?伊萬尼克正在想辦法削減廣告預算——這家汽車公司每年的全球廣告預算估計約47億美元，笑傲全球。通用汽車當前股價僅為2010年11月IPO價格的三分之二左右，部分原因是由于歐洲金融危機，另外一部分則是因為重組后的公司尚未證明盈利的可持續性。

????2011年通用汽車實現凈利潤61億美元，美國政府（持有通用汽車25%股份）批準的一項所得稅特別免除政策放大了該公司的利潤數據。福特汽車（Ford Motor Co.）和大眾汽車（Volkswagen AG）的凈利潤分別為202億美元和197億美元。通用汽車雖然穩穩盈利，但在毛利潤率方面排在其他六大全球汽車制造商之后。

????“我不知道所有這些會不會改變金融界的看法，”專業汽車網站Edmunds.com的高級分析師米歇爾?克瑞布斯表示。“通用汽車真正需要的是提高銷售額和利潤。我還沒有真正看到通用汽車拿出了更大的方案來實現這一點。”克瑞布斯尤其質疑通用汽車放棄明年超級碗的決定，因為明年該公司將推出Silverado、Sierra皮卡以及基于這些皮卡系統的大型運動型多功能汽車等新車型。

????加盟通用汽車前，伊萬尼克早先曾在現代（Hyundai）大獲成功。伊萬尼克告訴《華爾街日報》（The Wall Street Journal），他認為超級碗的廣告投放仍然有效，但他并不打算每年都出錢購買冠軍賽時段。今年30秒的廣告時間耗資350萬美元；明年同一時段將上漲到380萬美元。通常都會有多家汽車廠商購買電視轉播的廣告時段，專門制作廣告，甚至在大賽開始前就已經開始在互聯網上廣泛流傳。

????通用汽車放棄超級碗的舉動很是讓人吃驚，因為伊萬尼克的老東家——現代汽車仍然是超級碗最積極的汽車廣告主之一。現代汽車美國子公司的市場營銷負責人史蒂文?夏農曾經是通用汽車市場營銷高管。【夏農似乎并不諱言，他告訴《美國汽車新聞》（Automotive News），超級碗是現代汽車的一個“完美平臺”，并稱該賽事是美國“收視率最高”的電視節目。】

????作為2013年超級碗冠軍賽的電視轉播公司，哥倫比亞廣播公司（CBS）當然知道今年下半年通用汽車將加大力度，推廣新的全尺寸皮卡。這或許有助于解釋為何CBS的廣告定價如此之高。在通用汽車最重要的市場美國，Silverado、Sierra占通用汽車的利潤比重很高。而現代汽車并不生產全尺寸皮卡。

????通用汽車決定暫停Facebook付費廣告，這個決定不難做出，也不像放棄超級碗那么關系重大。對于在Facebook首次公開募股之前兩天公布這個消息，這家汽車制造商自稱，并非刻意為之。當然，通用汽車只要愿意，隨時都可以恢復在Facebook上的付費廣告，無需像熱門電視賽事那樣使出渾身解數去爭奪有限的時段。

????譯者：早稻米

????In the space of a week General Motors Co. shook the global advertising industry -- twice. First, it announced it was halting paid ads on social network Facebook, a still emerging advertising platform. A few days later, the car company said it was also passing on televised commercials for next year's Super Bowl, a bastion of high-spectacle, high-machismo automotive advertising. What in heaven's name is going on in Detroit?

????The straightforward explanation is that GM's (GM) new head of global marketing, Joel Ewanick, is looking for ways to trim the automaker's estimated $4.7 billion global annual advertising budget -- the largest in the world. GM shares are selling at about two-thirds the price of its November 2010 IPO, in part due to financial losses in Europe and partly because the restructured company hasn't yet proven that its earnings are sustainable.

????In 2011 GM earned $6.1 billion in net income, an amount enlarged by a special exemption from income tax granted by the U.S. government, which owns roughly 25% of the automaker. That compared with $20.2 billion in net income by Ford Motor Co. (F) and $19.7 billion by Volkwagen AG. GM, while solidly profitable, trails the other top six global automakers in terms of gross profit margin.

????"I'm not sure all of this will move the needle with the financial community," said Michelle Krebs, a senior analyst for Edmunds.com. "What GM really needs is better sales and profits. I don't really see the bigger plan for how to do that." In particular, Krebs questions the decision to drop the Super Bowl in a year when GM will be introducing its new line of Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks, as well as large sport-utility vehicles based on those pickup architectures.

????Ewanick, who first made his mark with Hyundai before coming to GM, told The Wall Street Journal he thinks the Super Bowl remained effective, though he didn't intend to buy time for the championship every year. A 30-second spot this year cost $3.5 million; next year the same spot will go for $3.8 million. Typically, multiple automakers buy advertising for the broadcast, and the commercials usually are specially produced and circulate widely on the Internet even before the game.

????The move was particularly surprising, since one of the most aggressive automotive advertisers at the Super Bowl remains Hyundai, Ewanick's former employer. The top marketing post at the U.S. subsidiary of the Korean company is occupied by Steven Shannon, a former GM marketing executive. (Shannon seemed only too pleased to tell the Automotive News, that the Super Bowl is a "perfect venue" for Hyundai, lauding the game the as "most watched" show in the U.S.)

????CBS, broadcaster of 2013 championship, surely realizes that GM will be in high marketing mode for its new full-size pickup trucks later this year, which may help to explain why the network has priced the game aggressively. GM's Silverado and Sierra furnish a disproportionate share of profit in the U.S., the automaker's most important market. Hyundai doesn't build full-size pickups.

????GM's decision to drop paid Facebook advertising, which the automaker said was revealed inadvertently two days before Facebook's initial public offering of stock, was an easier call to make and not as critical as cutting back on the Super Bowl. GM of course can resume Facebook paid ads whenever it wants and doesn't have to fight for limited inventory, as it does during a television extravaganza.