• Brandweek, Friday, February 23, 2007 11:45 AM

The "Robot" commercial for General Motors that drew fire for its suicidal ending has been revamped and will premiere this Sunday during the Academy Awards telecast.

The original ad portrayed a robot on an assembly line that was fired for dropping a bolt. The anguished robot toiled through a series of low-end jobs, including holding a sign hawking condo units, before jumping off a bridge.

The new 30-second spot removes the jump -- which actually was a bad dream -- and substitutes a shot of a car being compacted in a scrap yard. It also shows the robot in other menial jobs, including work as a shelf-stocker and holding the security gate in a parking ramp.

A source close to GM said that the robot spot prompted the "most calls of any" in the past five years.

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