Chrysler

I confess, I have no idea what "absolute priority" means after reading this article in The Washington Post.  Or maybe I have no idea what "senior" or "secured" means.  Read for yourself:

Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday after a handful of lenders holding some of the company's senior secured loans declined to accept the government's offer of 33 cents on the dollar. The dissident senior lenders contend that the sale illegally rewards junior creditors at their expense, despite laws granting "absolute priority" to the senior lenders. The UAW, for instance, would get the bulk of its pension payments, the dissident lenders said.

Full-page, full color ads in major newspapers are very expensive.  Depending on the paper, it costs between $50,000 and $100,000 per ad.

So what was Chrysler doing running a full-page, full-color ad in today's Washington Post and New York Times (I assume it was in other major papers as well but those are the only two I've seen so far today) saying "Thank You America" "for investing in Chrysler"?

First, this wasn't an investment, it was a loan.

Second, if it was in such desperate shape that it needed a loan from the U.S. government, why the hell was Chrysler spending any of that loan on a full-page add that doesn't sell more cars or help restructure the company?

My guess is that this was a multi-million dollar ad buy across the country.  What else that was more productive or would have better helped the bottom line so the loan would be repaid could Chrysler have done with this money?

The real question is whether Chrysler officials flew in a company jet to the ad agency to approve the copy.

P.S.  Before anyone accuses me of being anti-US auto manufactures...I drive a Chrysler.