GMC & Football

[HarleyEarl]

FOR RELEASE: 2005-09-06

GMC's Trucks AND SUV's Named Official Vehicles of the NFL

Professional Grade Vehicles Will Be Prominent Throughout Pro Football Season


Detroit -- When the Pro Football Season kicks off on September 8 with a special edition of Monday Night Football, GMC's trucks and suv's will take their place in the NFL starting lineup as the official vehicles of the regular season.

As part of the affiliation, GMC vehicles will be a prominent player on ESPN's Sunday Night and ABC's Monday Night NFL coverage, a key participant in NFL celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the Super Bowl, and throughout the season, the GM brand will have a dynamic presence in a number of Monday Night Football cities across the country.

"Our involvement with Professional Football and Monday Night Football in particular is a big part of GMC's broader sports strategy to reach the millions of football fans who attend or watch games on television every week," said Steve Rosenblum, GMC Marketing Director. "GMC has historically used "Homelife" and sports as our promotional platform, but we've been expanding our involvement in the "Professional Sports" corridor to reach an even larger number of consumers."

Are You Ready For Some Football

Last year marked the first time specific products -- a GMC Sierra Denali and Yukon Denali -- were featured on ABC's Hank Williams Jr. 'Are You Ready For Some Football?,' Monday Night Football opening video segment. This year, GMC will enter its second year of exclusive exposure on the opening segment with a Sierra Denali.

For the first four weeks of the season, the opening segment also includes a weekly sweepstakes in which one lucky viewer will win a 2006 GMC Sierra Denali. GMC will promote the sweepstakes in advance of the September 8 game with an advertisement directing viewers to the website, gmcroadwin.com, to identify the U.S. landmark the Sierra was shown in during that week's opening segment.

Football-Themed Advertising

The Sierra Denali and a number of other GMC trucks and suv's will also be featured in NFL and Monday night themed advertising that will appear exclusively on both Sunday and Monday night broadcasts.

In GMC's feature advertisement, a :90 second spot entitled, Gridiron, the voice of HBO's weekly NFL highlights Harry Kalas narrates over a selection of modern era NFL moments of players performing beyond expectations, followed by a selection of GMC trucks performing their own version of feats of superior strength and capability. As the footage transitions from pro football to GMC's Professional Grade Trucks, Kalas states, "Time and time again the impossible becomes routine. There's a name for belittling the insurmountable. It's called professional grade. A higher standard to which every professional aspires. The same standard to which every GMC is engineered.

In another advertisement running on Sunday and Monday Night broadcasts entitled, Assembly line, a number of GMC trucks are seen rolling down the assembly line, transforming from raw chassis' into finished trucks performing professional and recreational tasks. In the :60 second spot featuring the song, "Use Me" by Bill Withers, a Sierra dump truck is loaded with soil, an Envoy Denali is seen pulling a yacht, a Canyon crew cab configured as a life guard truck stands ready to save lives and a 3500 Series Sierra crew cab is shown pulling a monstrous Monday Night Football trailer. As the trailer appears on screen, the musical backdrop changes to the Monday Night Football theme as the narrator states, "And then there are those (trucks) who are destined for the gridiron. At GMC, we can't be certain how you'll use our trucks and suv's, so we engineered them all to the highest standards. Professional Grade." The Assembly Line spot will also air on general programming without the football trailer ending.

Celebrating 40 Years of the Super Bowl

In addition to seeing GMC's trucks on their television screens, thousands of football fans will experience GMC's professional grade capabilities firsthand.

Fans attending live musical activities on Sept. 8 at the Los Angeles Coliseum, site of the first Super Bowl, will see 10 GMC vehicles - one for each of the nine teams playing on Monday Night Football this year, and a Sierra Denali wrapped in ABC and Monday Night Football logos.

The musical activities at the Los Angeles Coliseum are part of the NFL's "Road to Forty" season that looks back at the history of the Super Bowl, honors the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and peers down the road to Super Bowl XL, which will take place Feb. 5, 2006 in Detroit. Live musical events are also planned at the Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., and the opening celebration will include footage from The Rolling Stones' performance in Detroit on August 31.

The Professional Grade In Motion Tour

Throughout the season fans will get additional opportunities to get up close and personal with GMC trucks. Beginning on October 10, fans attending San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium for the game between the Chargers and the Pittsburgh Steelers will be the first to experience the GMC Professional Grade in Motion Tour. The tour allows visitors an unprecedented opportunity to see, hear and feel GMC. It includes a 53-foot semi with a 20-foot expandable theater and a seven-person ride simulator, giving more people an opportunity to experience what it's like going off road in a Sierra pickup. The GMC Professional Grade in Motion Tour will visit a number of Monday Night football stadiums this year and will be available to GMC dealers for individual promotional opportunities in 2006.

GMC is a division of General Motors Corporation. The division markets the Sierra, Yukon, Envoy, Canyon, Savana, Safari and TopKick. GMC's lineup of professional grade trucks delivers outstanding capabilities that exceed customers' expectations with unique features and design elements.

GMC sold more than 602,000 trucks in 2004, setting a national sales record for the 11th time in 12 years. More information on GMC and its products can be found at www.media.gm.com and www.gmc.com.

# # #

GMC Television Advertisement "Gridiron" Script

When tree tops alight in fiery hues and a crisp chill hangs heavy in the air.
It can mean only one thing.
It is Autumn.
The season of miracles.
A time when skeptics become believers and mere mortals become supermen.
Unthinkable yardage yields to missile like precision.
Hulks of muscle and bone fold like a house of cards.
Players deemed too small become giants.
Distances deemed too long become trifling.
Time and time again the impossible becomes routine.
There's a name for belittling the insurmountable.
It's called professional grade.
A higher standard to which every professional aspires.
The same standard to which every GMC is engineered.
Like the indomitable GMC Sierra HD with an available 605 ft-lbs of torque.
Or the incredible Yukon, a fullsize utility that handles tight turns with catlike agility.
Or the Envoy Denali with 300 fuel efficient horses bred for seemingly endless stamina.
No matter how you use your GMC, we engineer them all to the highest standards.
Professional Grade."

GMC Television Advertisement "Assembly Line" Script

Some of our trucks will get the dirty jobs.
Others will lead a more leisurely life.
Still others will save lives.
And then there are those who are destined for the gridiron.
At GMC, we can't be certain how you'll use our trucks and suv's, so we engineered them all to the highest standards.
Professional Grade."

[AAS]

When the Pro Football Season kicks off on September 8 with a special edition of Monday Night Football, GMC's trucks and suv's will take their place in the NFL starting lineup as the official vehicles of the regular season. 

why bother promoting the current lineup of GMC's when the GMT900's will be rolled out in a couple months... unless... nah, I doubt they would debut them on TV.