Volkswagen propaganda slants public opinion

Following an intense and competitive courting process and months of hush hush meetings, Fraulein Volkswagen proved she was no match for Chattanooga's southern charm.On July 15, news of Chattanooga's marriage to the German automotive superpower hit the front page of every media outlet in the city.

A recent edition of Newsweek magazine compared Chattanooga's reaction to the news to the second coming of Christ.

Love-letters appeared up and down 4th Street, plastered to the side of The Chattanooga Times Free Press building and written on chalkboards at mom and pop shops across the county.

Conversations were peppered with the news of the automotive superpower coming to town, and everyone was ecstatic.

The news was inescapable then, and now nearly two months later, it is still inescapable.

There came a point where the welcoming campaign overstayed its own welcome and transformed into something else.

It became propaganda.

In 1927, Edward Bernays, often considered the father of the field of public relations, defined modern propaganda as a consistent, enduring effort to create or shape events in order to influence the relations of the public to an enterprise, idea or group.

According to Bernays, propaganda is essential to our present social organization because public approval is essential to any large undertaking, whether that be backing war, peace, or a car company driving into town at the expense of Tennessee tax-payers.

Personally, I didn't need the government to tell me Volkswagen is a great company. If you were to judge my response to Volkswagen before the pandemonium struck Chattanooga, you would have found that I had a favorable outlook on the company.

I have many great memories of Volkswagen, in fact.

Does Pavlov ring a bell? If so, then you'll understand what I mean when I say I grew up conditioned to punch innocent passengers at the sight of a "Punch-bug." I love that game.

I've loved all of The Love Bug films. The bus in the film "Little Miss Sunshine" was a riot.

If it isn't clear, I have no problems with the automotive company, but I hate that I was forced to blindly accept this as strictly good news.

I hate that I was broad-sided by a surge of media (television, radio, internet, newspapers, magazines, advertisements) into thinking this new relationship with Volkswagen was an act of God.

I was duped.

I was the propaganda's creation.

It drives me crazy to log onto The Chattanooga Times Free Press Web site and watch a video of local and state government officials at a Chattanooga Times Free Press editorial board meeting discussing how amazing this relationship will be for the city.

I found myself excited by the charts and figures showing what might possibly happen, but of course no one ever mentioned the risk.

Yes, the risk.

What if the relationship between Fraulein Volkswagen and Chattanooga goes sour? What if it crashes and burns? What if she can't produce 2,000 jobs by 2010? What if she can't sell one million cars by 2018? What if she decides to pack up her trunk and drive away the same way she did to Westmoreland Pennsylvania in the 1980's?

What if she leaves Chattanooga cold and broken hearted, deep in debt, or just another notch on the rust belt?

I think most people, like myself, would like to see Volkswagen and Chattanooga drive off into the sunset with a long and beautiful relationship tail-gating closely beind.

Needless to say, the jig on this "Willkommen" campaign is up. Cut out the propaganda and only leave the facts. I want the good, the bad and the ugly.