To most people, the sight of tens of thousands of federal and state officials, journalists, lobbyists, celebrities and well-heeled donors gathering for conventions in Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul may look like political events.
But to corporate America, they are marketing opportunities.
More then 170 major corporations — including Google, Best Buy, Pfizer, FedEx, Allstate, AT&T and Hewlett-Packard — are spending millions of dollars at the two conventions to promote their brands and their political agendas, creating a trade-show atmosphere away from the podium.
General Motors, for example, is providing 700 hybrid and flex-fuel cars as the “official vehicle provider” to shuttle politicians around. To show off just how “flex” some of these vehicles are, G.M. has teamed with the Molson-Coors Brewing Company to power cars with “waste beer,” or beer that is damaged during production and turned into ethanol.
Beer and driving usually do not mix. But this unusual combination is part of the automaker’s effort to establish its “green” bona fides at a time when G.M. and other Detroit automakers are seeking financial support from Congress to build more fuel-efficient vehicles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/29/us/politics/29conventions.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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