Monster.cool
The Monster.controversy was morphed into a PR hit for trucking.
Deborah Whistler
Editor
Monster.com should change its name to Monster.cool for righting the wrong it done trucking with its now notorious Super Bowl ad. Many industry groups said the commercial, which promotes the job-finding company, was profoundly offensive and portrayed truckers in a negative light.
Personally, I felt trucking's reaction was a little over the top. The commercial was funny and, as I said in my March editorial, most of the folks I talked to agreed with me.
Example:
"I've been in the trucking industry since 1982 and an owner-operator longer than I care to remember. I have also lost my interest in professional sports over the years, mostly from a lack of time. But I still enjoy the Super Bowl for the simple reason of the commercials that debut. I saw the Monster.com commercial and nearly fell on the floor with laughter. It was great! Those who were offended need to buy themselves a sense of humor."
JMAC
Houston, Texas
That's just one of many letters I received in support of the Monster.com ad.
However, I have since talked to several folks on the other side of the fence.
One referred to me as an "infidel." Another trucker told me he's had to sit in too many courtrooms where jurors meted out ridiculous judgments against trucking companies in accident cases to find the humor in the commercial. He said anything that can be construed as portraying truckers as dangerous or destructive will only exacerbate an already jaded and negative public perception of truck drivers.
Another trucking company PR guy said what he found most offensive was a reference in the ad to truckers as being "not white collar, not blue collar, but no collar." I didn't catch that line while watching the commercial, but I agree that it isn't very flattering to professional drivers.
But Monster.com has tried to turn those negatives into a positive, and I believe they did an admirable job. First, they changed the original Super Bowl ad, taking out the scene where the truck plows through a gas station and sets off an explosion.
Monster.com also provided the funds for the industry to create a new ad promoting America's professional drivers. It was produced with the help of the American Trucking Assns. and the Truckload Carriers Assn.
The pro-trucking ad aired on cable television throughout the week of April 14. It was shown on Country Music Television (CMT), ESPN, Comedy Central, The Learning Channel (TLC), USA Network, VH1 and Black Entertainment Television (BET) stations.
The new commercial features a number of professional truckers, including Peggy Neef (D.M. Bowman), Daniel Baez (Contract Freighters), Charles Gates (Howell's Motor Freight) and Pat Rauschnot (Dart Transit). Also featured are Robert St. John (Jevic Transportation), Tim Flood (The Kane Co.), Eddie Roberts (U.S. Navy) and Tom Enroughty (Cox Transportation).
It's an exceptional portrait of the pride and professionalism of truck drivers. And the industry would do well to take advantage of this positive public relations tool by securing funds to get broader circulation and airtime for the ad. Especially now, since truck safety will most likely be in the national spotlight again, what with the release of new hours of service rules.
While I didn't have the finished HOS rules at this writing, sources have predicted they will be much more trucker-friendly than the last debacle, and certainly less complicated. But be assured, if the rules make sense for trucking, they will be the target of some nasty safety criticism from anti-truck political factions like PATT and CRASH.
You might want to contact the organizations whose complaints resulted in the Monster.com turnaround and urge them to fund more exposure for the new commercial. These groups include ATA, TCA, OOIDA, NATSO, NPTC and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
And again, I stress that Monster.com did not need to be so generous or considerate of trucking's position in this matter. Truckers should write and thank Monster.com's CEO Jeff Taylor at Monster.com, 5 Clock Tower Place, Suite 500, Maynard, MA 01754-2530.
