Who's to Blame for the Edsel? George Will says it's....

[mahatmakanejeeves]

liberals. Well, of course.

In the WaPo, this ran on September 5, the fiftieth anniversary of the introduction of the Edsel.

George Will: Advice for Detroit: Make good cars and Americans will buy

George Will: Advice for Detroit: Make good cars and Americans will buy
By GEORGE WILL
Of the Washington Post
Published on Friday, September 07, 2007

....
'The Affluent Society'

In 1958, with the Edsel already turned to ashes, John Kenneth Galbraith, with bad timing comparable to the launch of the Edsel, published "The Affluent Society." It asserted that manufacturers, wielding all-powerful advertising, were emancipated by the law of supply and demand because advertisers could manufacture demand for whatever manufacturers wished to supply.

This theory buttressed the liberal project of expanding government in the name of protecting incompetent Americans from victimization, and having government supplant the market as the allocator of wealth and opportunity. But all of Ford's then-mighty marketing prowess could not keep the Edsel from being canceled in 1959. Brooks calculated that it would have been cheaper for Ford to skip the Edsel and give away 110,000 Mercurys.

Say, George, as long as we're on the subject of incompetent Americans....

[Kagemusha]

1. I'm sorry, that's not what George Will said.

It's rather hard for Galbraith to be responsible for the Edsel because he wrote something that seemed obsolete the moment it left the printing presses because the Edsel was already a failure. Which is what George Will wrote.

So I have no idea what you're talking about.

[wtmusic]

2. Where does OP say Galbraith is responsible?

Will is blaming liberals for Detroit's problems. After smugly dropping the Edsel in our laps as incontrovertible proof that Galbraith was full of it, he sneaks this one in:

As Detroit toils to undo some contractual provisions that have burdened the companies with crippling health care and pension costs...

Those pesky unions. If it wasn't for their health care needs, Detroit would have half a chance at making the cars America wants to drive. :crazy:

[Kagemusha]

5. Unions didn't design the Edsel either so I dunno how 'liberals' are to blame for it

Will blames liberals for a lot of other things after the Edsel. Fine. But the OP said liberals, Galbraith is a liberal, I didn't mean to limit it to just him when I replied.

Not that I'm conceding Will's point anyway, bleh. I don't like him.

[catnhatnh]

3. Horse cock, bullcock, poppycock...

...no one is ever sucked in by advertising. Early adopters are just that-people so attuned to the future that they buy, oh, Edsels, when they arrive or I-Phones-you know-shit that drops in price or fails as a brand within weeks...
...Yet the media tell me about "early adopters". One more advertising scam.The media introduces those first to buy a new product as "obviously" more tuned in as a "techno-savvy" person than someone who waits six months to see if there is in fact an advantage to the item sold...
...in fact, they are more normally people trying to "stay ahead of the curve"In the 70's half of them bought Betamax decks...I'm betting no one here remembers that for 6-8 months there was a 4 track tape player...
...So Steve Jobs offers money back..$599 was enough for "early adopters" until they found that the front load of coolness would be killed by the practicality of a phone meant to sell by the millions...
...So $399 is the price now-I am a "late adopter"When it drops to $50 bucks we can discuss it

[QueenOfCalifornia]

4. You mean it wasn't

Bill Clinton?

I swear he used to build Edsel's in the Oval Office while talking dirty to Monica....

[spanone]

6. geo will is a pimple on the ass of society that will not go away.