---
title: "General Motors Condemned by Stern Super Bowl Commercial From Canadian Labor Union"
description: "'If you want to sell here, build here,' and 'we'll never forget your greed,' are phrases said in the primetime commercial."
date: "2019-02-04"
modified: "2019-02-04"
authors:
  - name: "Jerry Perez"
    job_title: "Deputy Editor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/jerry-perez"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/26328/general-motors-condemned-by-stern-super-bowl-commercial-from-canadian-labor-union"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Canada"
  - "General Motors"
  - "Layoffs"
  - "Mexico"
---

# General Motors Condemned by Stern Super Bowl Commercial From Canadian Labor Union

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2019/02/screen-shot-2019-02-04-at-7.22.01-pm.png>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

General Motors is being slammed by a Canadian labor union, who took it upon itself to show its displease with the automaker's recent announcement of mass layoffs and plant closings, by airing a condemning commercial during [Super Bowl LII](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/26221/hellcats-drifting-to-the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-create-beautiful-super-bowl-ad>).

The TV and [YouTube](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEAAz3fr2EU&feature=youtu.be>) ad was organized and paid for by Unifor, a labor union that represents millions of auto workers in Canada, many whom currently work at the GM assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, which is currently scheduled to be shuttered. The ad addresses many painful moments of GM's relationship with our neighbors to the north, but mainly the $10.8 billion bailout the American automaker accepted from the Candian government in 2009 and the fact that vehicle production is being allocated to Mexico—even if [GM claims this isn't accurate](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/26214/general-motors-now-builds-over-25-percent-of-its-north-american-cars-in-mexico>).

https://youtube.com/embed/QEAAz3fr2EU

Although Unifor doesn't disclose its math, the ad claims that the billionaire bailout is equivalent to every single Canadian giving GM $300 out of their pockets, adding that such generosity is simply part of being a Canadian and it's most certainly [not being reciprocated](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/25120/gm-workers-at-oshawa-assembly-walk-out-to-protest-plant-closure-mass-layoffs>). The ad also goes on to claim that GM's Mexican operations are leaving Canadians "out in the cold," and says that the move is as "unCanadian as the vehicles they \[GM\] are trying to sell us \[Canadians\]."

Perhaps the strongest part of the message comes at the end of the 35-second video, when the narrator sums up how Unifor members feel about GM:

"You may have forgotten our generosity, but we'll never forget your greed," reads the ad. "If you want to sell her, build here."

## Author
Jerry is responsible for upholding The Drive's ethos as an audience-first, enthusiast-driven car blog that serves up industry-leading news, reviews, culture, and motorsport coverage. Overseeing a staff of writers and editors from his home base in Indianapolis, he helps curate the site's daily rundown, as well as its medium- and long-term content strategies. Jerry joined The Drive in 2018 as a writer and worked as news editor and managing editor before becoming the deputy in 2023. As a lifelong car enthusiast and racing fan, Jerry believes that all cars are cool, but the people behind the machines are even cooler. This belief often gives The Drive a slightly different focus from most other car sites, where we explore the humanity behind the machines. When he's not obsessing over the day's biggest stories or hanging out at a race track, Jerry can be found behind the wheel of a car, most likely sharing a laugh with his teenage son or daughter.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/drive_jerry/>)