After Detroit Tigers baseball pitcher Armando Galarraga recently lost a perfect game because of an umpire's blown call, General Motors gave him a new Corvette, a $53,000 consolation prize.
After Amanda (Norgaard) McBride of Bagley, Minn., recently gave birth while driving a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt, General Motors gave her a one-year supply of diapers, a stroller, three child safety seats and some other items. The sticker price of those baby items was not revealed, but I'm confident it didn't approach $53,000.
Doesn't GM have this backward? Major league baseball has had 20 perfect games. How many Chevys have been delivery rooms?
Amanda clearly has achieved a rarer feat than Mr. Galarraga. And, I'm quite certain, a more painful one.
Besides, money-beleaguered General Motors can get more financial gain by touting Amanda. Just think of the marketing possibilities. For instance...
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"Buy a Cobalt, so easy to handle on the road that you can give birth simultaneously." Or ...
"Put yourself in a Cobalt, so nice that Joseph Dominick Phillips couldn't wait to see it." Or ...
"Check out the Cobalt interior, so pristine that you can use it for childbirth."
At the very least, Amanda should receive a 2010 Cobalt to replace the soiled one. Having witnessed two of them, I know births can be messy, to say nothing of loud.
Or perhaps General Motors should give them a Camaro, so they could make it to the hospital quicker next time.
If you haven't heard the story, on May 19 while at work, Amanda went into labor. She picked up the child's father, Joseph Phillips, and began to drive from their home to North Country Regional Hospital in Bemidji. Amanda was driving because Phillips suffers from seizures.
On the trip, her water broke. Soon after, their baby was born. "The baby just came out," she said. "I was sitting on the seat, and he just slid out. It really wasn't that bad at all."
Maybe if Little Joey was born in a different Chevy model, General Motors would have recognized the marketing potential. Cobalt, named for the 27th element, is not a sexy brand. This is the last year for the Cobalt, which will be replaced by the Cruze in 2011.
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Perhaps it would have been sexier publicity if he had been born in an Express van, providing the image of rushing to the hospital with a delivery. Or maybe the Traverse, which traversed Clearwater County in the rush to the maternity ward.
She also can be thankful she was driving a Cobalt. She could have been behind the wheel of a 1958 Edsel, a 1961 Corvair, a 1976 Chevette, a 1978 AMC Pacer, a 1985 Yugo, a 1970 Gremlin, a 1971 Ford Pinto or a turquoise 1997 Mercury Mystique.
Still, when push comes to shove, Amanda deserves new wheels more than a major leaguer who, with a $400,000 salary this year, can afford to buy one himself.
Reach Bakken at (701) 780-1125; (800) 477-6572, ext. 125; or send e-mail to rbakken@gfherald.com .
