Venezuela oil for US poor TV advert

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Trancendental

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I know US propaganda is bad - but my complaints are tempered when I see the propaganda from other parts of the world that invade our tv airwaves.

I just saw an advertisement touting cheap (or free?) oil from "the good people of Venezuela" to help heat the homes of US poor, complete with requisite poor single (white) mom and adorable little girl huddling around an oven trying to stay warm in the cold, cold winter.

If you don't get the irony, I pulled these stats from wiki:

Infant mortality in Venezuela stands at 21.54 deaths per 1000 births, for comparison this rate is almost eight times higher than Sweden. Child malnutrition (for children under age five) stands at about 17 percent of the population classified as stunted or wasted, which are the official United Nations categories for malnutrition. Areas more affected by the stunting and wasting include some of the poorest populations: Amacuro Delta (30%) and Amazonas (24%).[6]

According to the United Nations, the fraction of population without adequate sanitation is 32 percent, with a majority of people in many rural areas lacking in this basic commodity.[7] Travellers to Venezuela are advised to obtain vaccinations for a variety of diseases including typhoid, yellow fever, cholera, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis D.[8] In a cholera epidemic of contemporary times in the Orinoco Delta, Venezuela's political leaders were accused of racial profiling of their own indigeneous people to deflect blame from the country's institutions, thereby aggravating the epidemic.[9]. Visitors to Venezuela are advised to drink only bottled water, due to the prevalence of cross contamination of drinking water with untreated sewage. In Venezuela only three percent of the sewage receives treatment, and none of the following major cities have any wastewater treatment: Caracas, Maracaibo and Valencia[10]. There are approximately 5,000,000 people in Venezuela living without access to safe drinking water, resulting in a percentage of population ranking of Venezuela among the poorest in South America.[11] As of the year 1999 there were an estimated 110,000 people in Venezuela living with HIV.[12] [4]
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[quote name='PKRipp3r']#1 - Nobody does propaganda like the U.S. Nobody.

#2 - Venezuela is far from the worst source of U.S. oil imports.[/quote]

#1 LOL

#2 No WAI
 
[quote name='camoor']#1 LOL

#2 No WAI[/QUOTE]

I wish someone would bankroll a reality show starring W and Chavez, call it Grits & Guacamole and put it on the CW.

Would be a runaway smash hit
 
It's not free, it's discounted by some 40% compared to other companies. Which is still a tidy profit (remember they don't have to ship from the middle east). What Citco is trying to do is establish themselves a solid market share and as 'The good guys'. Smaller per unit profit, larger customer base. What you do next is in two years you lower the discount, say to 38% while at the same time raising the minimum income requirement by 10% sucking up another huge part of the market share. You keep doing that for 20 years and you control a majority of the market at a still reasonable price that your competition cannot keep up with.
 
[quote name='Cheese']It's not free, it's discounted by some 40% compared to other companies. Which is still a tidy profit (remember they don't have to ship from the middle east). What Citco is trying to do is establish themselves a solid market share and as 'The good guys'. Smaller per unit profit, larger customer base. What you do next is in two years you lower the discount, say to 38% while at the same time raising the minimum income requirement by 10% sucking up another huge part of the market share. You keep doing that for 20 years and you control a majority of the market at a still reasonable price that your competition cannot keep up with.[/QUOTE]

While that's great in theory, is there a way to measure market share lost by Citgo after Chavez pulled this stunt?
 
[quote name='CocheseUGA']While that's great in theory, is there a way to measure market share lost by Citgo after Chavez pulled this stunt?[/QUOTE]


None, it's not like they gave up selling heating oil or gas at full price.

Also this way people will be able to pay the bill instead of giving the local companies the run around or just not paying. I don't know how much of a stunt it is, I'm sure they'll make plenty of money because of it, it's a sound business strategy. If 20% of your potential customers aren't because they can't afford it, figure out what they can afford and as long as that's still above your profit line, sell it to them. You get regular customers and increase your total market share.
 
[quote name='Cheese']None, it's not like they gave up selling heating oil or gas at full price.

Also this way people will be able to pay the bill instead of giving the local companies the run around or just not paying. I don't know how much of a stunt it is, I'm sure they'll make plenty of money because of it, it's a sound business strategy. If 20% of your potential customers aren't because they can't afford it, figure out what they can afford and as long as that's still above your profit line, sell it to them. You get regular customers and increase your total market share.[/QUOTE]

Great statistical analysis, but it's factually incorrect. Citgo did lose at least a little business after the fact, they ran a story on it on CNN about how most people didn't know Citgo was a Venezuelan interest.
 
You mean after his UN thing? Yeah, they lost some money, 7-11 said they would stop dealings with them, but Citgo claims that decision was made before his speech. They're one of the bigger oil companies, I'm sure they'll do fine. This move to sell cheap oil to the poor will only make them money.
 
Must we be so foolish as a nation to turn away charity because we don't like the leader of the nation offering it?

It's not as if there are immense mental gymnastics to be involved in thinking that, while charitable (and we'll gladly take it), he's still a leader in no position to complain about wealth inequality of nations other than his.
 
[quote name='Cheese']It's not free, it's discounted by some 40% compared to other companies. Which is still a tidy profit (remember they don't have to ship from the middle east). What Citco is trying to do is establish themselves a solid market share and as 'The good guys'. Smaller per unit profit, larger customer base. What you do next is in two years you lower the discount, say to 38% while at the same time raising the minimum income requirement by 10% sucking up another huge part of the market share. You keep doing that for 20 years and you control a majority of the market at a still reasonable price that your competition cannot keep up with.[/quote]

Very interesting, thanks for the fresh perspective.

Once again, there's no such thing as a free lunch!
 
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