Right. It doesn't make sense on the face of it. I've learned that when things don't make any sense on the surface, there is probably something else going on. Because the people who designed and approved GM's advertising strategy are not stupid, they want a return on their advertising investment. And it's not that difficult to see what it is. This advertising campaign is not aimed primarily at consumers:
This is a public campaign to keep the focus on EV's and take the focus off ICE. It's directed more at regulators than their customers. They want to create the impression that GM is putting all they have into competing in the EV space to head off regulations that would increasingly penalize ICE sales so they can keep selling ICE while everyone else pivots electric. The ICE market is shrinking but if they can gain market share each year they can remain profitable. ICE penalties that ramped higher each year would prevent them from doing that.
Creating the impression they care about going electric helps them convince regulators to go easy on ICE production. I mean, if GM is already trying as hard as they can to make the EV transition as soon as possible, what good does it do to slap on more penalties that will only put them out of business and destroy American jobs? They will argue the competition of capitalism is already working as it should, don't punish us for selling ICE cars, it takes time to change. There is a reason the magician holds a handkerchief in one hand. To get you to take your eye off the real action (the production of millions more ICE cars).
The portion of the ad aimed at consumers is designed to get their core customers to dig in and resist the temptation to be more Norwegian than American. EV's are popular in Norway. Let the Norwegian's drive EV's, Americans don't buy stuff like that.
If the Feds are smart about what is good for America they will insist on making it more and more difficult to sell new ICE cars by removing fossil fuel subsidies and long-standing tax breaks. Or, at least, increase the federal gasoline tax until it covers the cost of fossil fuel subsidies. This subsidizing of pollution and global warming has gone on for far too long. They should also re-instate the emission regulations rescinded by the previous administration. GM thinks this strategy will work and, unfortunately, they know more about it than most of us here. And they have lobbyists.
Oil companies probably came up with the strategy and convinced GM it was to their advantage to pretend like they were going electric while stringing out gas as long as possible.
