This headline is as true as any other you've read over the past few days.
In case you've been stuck under a 1980 Dodge Diplomat all week, the so-called "Fight of the Century" between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao is about to go down this weekend in Las Vegas and all over pay-per-view. As expected, everyone is trying to get in on that sweet, sweet SEO sugar.
Whether it's ESPN, USA Today, or even Automotive News, media of all sorts are jumping on the Mayweather gravy train and they're willing to stay on-board as long as the ride will last.
It's a solid play, too. The young champion is incredibly media friendly and oozes charisma in front of the camera. He's also known for having a rather large collection of supercars, most of which he doesn't even drive. (We'll let you be the judge of his vehicular tastes.) This works in the favor of all the automotive hacks scrambling for stories to justify their weekly contract fees.
But, the championship winning boxer is also known for something else entirely: beating women.
Since this is an automotive website, I'll skip over the bits about how the Nevada Boxing Commission has never suspended Mayweather after his multiple run-ins (and subsequent convictions) with the law. Nor will I go into detail regarding Mayweather's unabashed attitude toward those he's brutally attacked, multiple times. But, I will say one thing: the automotive media, proud to denounce "booth babes" at auto shows while championing female professionals working in our industry, is doing a serious disservice to women and automotive journalism whenever they mention this garbage excuse for a human being in a positive light.
USA Today was the first (at least in the last couple of weeks) to do a deep dive into Mayweather's relationship with a Las Vegas-area dealer, Towbin Motors. The dealer staff boastfully explains in video how they bend over backwards to keep "The Champ" happy while taking his money. The car selling part is all well and good. After all, Mayweather is expected to garner $100 million USD from this weekend's fight and I'm not going to get on a soapbox and dictate how dealers should go about their business in a more ethical manner. If I was a car dealer situated near Las Vegas, I'd want a piece of that prize fight pie, too. And had this story run at any other time, it probably wouldn't reek of opportunism. But, why does a business – in this case, a car dealer – feel the need to align themselves with such an obviously defective asshole? What does that say about the dealer itself? (This particular dealer had a reality show on A&E for a bit, a good indicator of where Towbin Motors is likely to score on the morality litmus test.)
It wasn't just USA Today. Automotive News got in on the action with an article titled 'He's sold boxing champ Floyd Mayweather 39 cars … and counting', chronicling the all-hours relationship between the fighter and Obi Okeke of Fusion Luxury Motors, a dealer of exotic cars in California. While the story is indeed interesting – giving us more insight into the peculiar nature of how Mayweather goes about buying cars – I still don't see the need for dealer proprietors to display just how close they are with boxing's latest bad-boy spousal abuser. Also, I'm guessing it's not at all difficult to sell cars with outrageous prices to someone who probably can't read all those bills of sale.
Yet, in the end, I don't blame the dealers one bit. When the chance to get free press – equivalent to millions of dollars of ad spend – rears its head, you grab it by the throat and squeeze it for everything it's worth. Business is business: cutthroat, immoral and feelingless (kind of like Mayweather himself, which might explain why he's so successful at this fight promotion thing).
What I blame is the constant morality bending going on in the automotive media – and the general media – that's the root cause of all of this. The whole environment is a testament to "talking out of both sides of your mouth".
Booth babes are horrible … but look at all these cars owned by a convicted wife beater.
Female automotive engineers are great … let's place this inspiring article right beside the Rolls-Royce Wraith bought by a man who viciously beat his ex in front of her own son.
All the while, media outlets wonder, Why don't our readers believe what we say?
In the end, it's not just women and the industry getting beaten down by all of this contrived Mayweather-centric media. I also feel for Manny Pacquiao. He's not just a boxer. Pacquiao is a smart, respected politician in his native Philippines. And, on top of it all, a car dealer sold him a Mitsubishi Pajero V6.
Hey, USA Today and Automotive News, that's a story I'd like to read.
The post Editorial: Serial Woman Beater Buys 39 Cars (And Counting!) From Opportunistic Salesman appeared first on The Truth About Cars.
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