Friends, we are living in trying times. Between viruses, political factions, climate debate, and Marvel-versus-DC gang fights, we're surrounded by conflicts and protests. In fact, there was a noisy protest this past weekend right outside GM's Headquarters at Detroit's Renaissance Center. A mob of car-crazy people gathered to demand GM executives revive the dead-for-a-decade Saturn brand. There's just one thing – it was all sort of fake.
We say sort of because, technically speaking, it did happen. As Fox 2 Detroit accurately reports, there were hundreds of people from around the country in the crowd. Most carried handwritten signs, and there were even some interviews with protesters sharing Saturn stories. However, the group wasn't in town to protest for Saturn's revival. This was actually participants and fans of the infamous Concours d'Lemons, which hosted one of their wacky car events for weird and unloved vehicles in the Motor City over the weekend. And hey, one of the cars in the show was actually a Saturn, albeit without any of its plastic body panels.
It seems the Lemons crowd was on a tour of the finer points in and around Detroit, and a stop at the Ren Cen to cheer for Saturn was part of the plan. Jalopnik got the inside story, explaining that it was a last-minute idea the night before the tour. Folks created signs, and calls were made to the local media about a Saturn protest at GM headquarters. It certainly sounds like a juicy subject for a Detroit-based news crew, but look closely at some of the signs shown in the video and it becomes clear this, um, protest wasn't entirely on the up-and-up.
Gone But Not Forgotten:
Still, we can't blame news outlets for reporting the news. They were told a protest would happen at GM headquarters, they showed up to cover it, and indeed there were people there demanding Saturn be revived. Why would anyone not think it was legit? Jalopnik says one person allegedly told news crews that it was a fake protest, but apparently, that message didn't quite connect.
In any case, Saturn is gone and we've heard no rumors that it might come back. And while we offer an A for effort on this pseudo protest, somehow we doubt that demanding "cheap shitboxes again" will reach the hearts of the suits in the tower. Of course, that's probably the point.
Source: Concours d'Lemons / Facebook
