General Motors has caved to pressure from a suicide prevention group and agreed to change an ad that featured an assembly-line robot throwing itself off a bridge after making a mistake. The move came
just days after the company said it would stick with the spot.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention went after the company last week, charging that ad -- which appeared in
the Super Bowl -- is a dangerous and insensitive message. A spokesman for the automaker said the about-face came after GM executives met with the group Friday morning. "We talked to them, heard their
concerns and decided to make an adjustment," he says.
"The ad, in its carelessness, portrays suicide as a viable option when someone fails or loses their job," the group says.
"Research has also shown that graphic, sensationalized or romanticized descriptions of suicide deaths in any medium can contribute to suicide contagion, popularly referred to as "copycat" suicides."
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