A collision avoidance system doesn’t appear to be a feature on the new Mercedes LWD given the company’s recent failure to avoid a collision with market forces in response to the Alan Jones saga.

Having ceased advertising on his radio programme two weeks before the distasteful comment was even made; Mercedes could have simply said nothing and acted with the kind of dignity one might expect from such an illustrious, international brand name. But it didn’t.

Instead the company failed to act with any caution and in a moment of panic pressed the accelerator and instantly, went local, took sides and split its market in two. It was totally unnecessary – no market is that big that you should turn part of it off – and I suspect in this case they’ve turned off the working part – the bit that is far more likely to buy its product.

The company failed to recognize that the cyber outrage is not so much about Mr. Jone’s comments but about politics. It’s an ongoing war being waged by the Left side of the political spectrum against any conservative commentator and Jones just happens to be the target at this time, having superseded Andrew Bolt for the bullseye spot.

The problem for Mercedes is that having sided with the Left, those on the Right now see Mercedes as a Left wing brand and will more than likely have second thoughts about its products.

But forget Left or Right. The company has failed to recognize that when it collided with the market it aligned itself with the wrong side – the bad side – the one occupied by the hypocrites and those who operate by double standards and whose serpent, vile tongues make AJ’s words sound like poetry in comparison. It wears shrill after a while.

The company also chose to believe that a highly suspect internet campaign had some credibility when it featured  a host of usual left wing suspects, cartoon characters, Osama Bin Laden, race horses and even AJ himself.

Pulling adverts that didn’t actually exist is one thing but worse! Now Mercedes is a very tarnished name in Australia due to some opportunistic grandstanding by its executive, particularly Communications Manager David McCarthy and his bullying actions will certainly affect the company’s customer base as they should.

Amazingly, here we have a Communications Manager who if, as reported in the tabloids, clearly has only read a few books on the subject and has revealed by his outburst that he has absolutely no idea about how to communicate in the real world.  Do I sense a university degree in there?

Of course, he sounds like many who have been indoctrinated by the frontline left wing troops who dominate the education system and the media in Australia.  Even the supposed unbiased, objective, taxpayer funded ABC doesn’t even employ one single conservative commentator. If you don’t recognize that seige-like battleground image then you’re living in a fool’s world if you believe that the majority of Australians are too naive to recognize that huge imbalance along with the ABC’s anti-conservative position and rhetoric.

You can also throw in the television news channels, Fairfax and a host of other media types. They are all on the same Left wing wavelength and in reality there are only a handful of conservative media commentators in this country and for the Left that’s still too many.  Andrew Bolt must really threaten – the only conservative television show in Australia and he continues to attract more viewers than Insiders and Meet The Press.

So let’s give Jaguar, BMW, VW, Audi and a host of other luxury car manufacturers a go at least we don’t know what part of the political spectrum they all occupy. Anyway, they sound much smarter than Mercedes and it follows that they probably make smarter cars

Sure, Alan Jones was out of order and he has apologised a number of times but who amongst us hasn’t said something highly distasteful about someone else in the privacy of our homes or amongst friends? Had it been made known to the person featured in our insult that person would have been hurt.

Fortunately for us there wasn’t a skulking journalist with a tape recorder who then took, without permission, our indoor comments outdoors.  It was only when publicized that Jone’s remarks caused hurt to Julia Gillard and her family and those on the Left continue to compound that pain.

No excuse, but these cruel comments about Gillard to exaggerate a truthful point, the fact that , she is indeed a proven liar, were spoken at a private function, by an individual, not a radio station, not their advertisers and certainly not Tony Abbott who Labor have tried so desperately to involve.

Seems no-one was offended by the broader statement by Alan Jones that the PM is a liar. I wonder why that bit was ignored? Perhaps it’s better not to draw attention to a fact beyond dispute, that the PM is a serial liar which was the point Alan Jones was really making.

Those advertisers who have pulled their spots have revealed that they all belong in this narrow little village called Australia and good luck to them because I’m quite sure Mercedes is now much lower on the list of desirables for any Australian who operates with a sense of justice.

From a marketing perspective, Mr. McCarthy would do well to cast his mind back to the one million votes picked up by an Australian political party in a federal election despite a far more prolonged and viscious attack by these same Left wing folk and their ilk, along with the full force of the national media, supported by the combined weight of the major political parties. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now.

Back then Labor, Liberal and the Democrats got so desperate that they changed our election system in July 1998 at 12.05 am in the early morning hours hoping we wouldn’t notice. This was to ensure that despite the high number of votes this conservative entity attracted – it didn’t get any Seats in Parliament and of course like Mr. McCarthy’s actions democracy was the loser. Yet that party still received more votes than the combined vote of the Greens , Nationals and Democrats.

Good luck with the Left Wing Drive Mercedes but somehow I’m sure, that just like the Labor government, whose Ministers have all put in their venemous two bobs worth on the AJ affair – it will probably continue to spin its wheels and take us all downhill to nowhere.

PS. The LWD Merc features climate control as standard – somehow they’ve found a way to do it.

Kevin Glancy