Yesterday’s mail brought a glossy new promotional magazine called “Grand Junction Lifestyle.” Given the cute kid and baby animal pictured on the cover, one would hope the lifestyle they’re trying to promote would be a healthy one. But instead, upon opening the front cover, readers are served up a two-page ad promoting one of the biggest corporate criminals and polluters on Earth, the Chevron Corporation:
Tag: Advertising
Advertising, Dangerous Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Lies, Local business, politics, Propaganda
Paonia’s High Country Shopper under fire for running outrageous, false political ad
by 4 Comments
• •Delta County residents are up in arms about a display ad that appeared on Page 20 of the June 12 edition of the High Country Shopper, a weekly newspaper published in Paonia that runs classified ads and promotes local businesses.
The ad, which is a departure from the norm for the Shopper, shows a photo of President Biden among an array photos of fascist dictators who have “had their opponents arrested,” including Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Fidel Castro, Stalin and others. The ad was paid for by Cedaredge resident Wes Fisher.
Where could someone get such a misleading idea as this?
Advertising, Crime, Ethics, Greedwashing, Scams, Weird Grand Junction Stuff
Grand Junction Jackalopes accept sponsorship by Red Rock Auto Group
by 18 Comments
• •The Grand Junction Jackalopes announced in a May 29 press release that they have “agreed to a sweeping partnership that will make Red Rock Auto Group the official auto dealer of the Grand Junction Jackalopes.”
Local baseball fans will now be confronted with the name of “Red Rock Auto” at every turn in their Jackalopes game day experience. As part of the sponsorship deal, the Diamond Club at Suplizio Field will now “officially be renamed the “Red Rock Auto Diamond Club,” and fans will now enter Suplizio Field through gates re-named the “Red Rock Auto North Gate” or the “Red Rock Auto South Gate.” The grill is even named the “Red Rock Auto Grill.”
That will be tough to swallow for local baseball fans who fell victim to Red Rock’s illicit sales techniques.
Activism, Advertising, Corruption, Crime, Dangerous Republicans, Election deniers, Ethics, Republicans violating laws, Trump Insanity
Trump “Jail Time” billboard goes live June 1, visible on Broadway bridge heading west towards Redlands
by 10 Comments
• •The above billboard goes live June 1 on the north side of the Broadway Bridge. You’ll see it as you’re heading west out of downtown towards the Redlands, and it couldn’t be more timely in light of Trump’s conviction yesterday on 34 criminal counts of business document fraud.
Since it’s a vinyl billboard and not a digital one, it will be visible 100% of the time and will even be lit up at night.
Yesterday Trump became the first former U.S. president in history to become a convicted felon.
Advertising, Crime, Dangerous Republicans, Democracy under threat, Grassroots advocacy, Republicans violating laws, Trump Insanity
New billboard coming June 1
by 16 Comments
• •Thanks to a collaboration between MadDogPAC.com and Mesa County citizens who understand the danger that Republicans and Trump pose to freedom and American democracy in the November general election, as of June 1 the above billboard will be up on Highway 340 in Grand Junction, visible to people driving west onto the Redlands over the Broadway bridge, and it will be lit up all night. It will be there for two months and could appear elsewhere around the valley after the initial two months if enough people donate to make it happen.
Advertising, Corruption, Cringeworthy, Election deniers, Embarrassing Republicans, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Republicans violating laws, Scams, Tina Peters, Vile Republicans, Weird western slope stuff
Tina Peters taking advantage of delays in her trials to sell “Tina Peters-as-Hero” swag
by 8 Comments
• •Tina Peters has wasted no time in taking advantage of the most recent delays in her criminal and civil trials to milk her status as a darling of the Trump Party and rake in more money. She has started broadening her appeal to the MAGA crowd by praising people convicted of participating in the deadly January 6 insurrection, lovingly referring to them as “our J6ers.” She condemns “the military-age men who are coming across our border with debit cards and buying $5,000 worth of new clothes” “and saying in no uncertain terms “… we need an authoritarian in office.”
While she repeatedly insists in her videos that she hasn’t profited from anything she’s done, Tina has also quickly rolled out a huge line of Tina Peters-as-Hero themed promotional gear for sale through her website, including T-shirts, sweatshirts, “Patriot-Whistleblower-Truth Teller Tina Peters” greeting cards (pack of 5 for $25), aluminum Tina Peters-themed vanity license plates with her website on it ($14.85), Tina Peters Sherpa Fleece Blankets ($70.40 – $97.70), “I stand with Tina Peters” scented candles ($38.10), dog hoodies ($37.35), backpacks and whiskey glasses,
Advertising, Conspiracy theories, Crazy Republicans, Cringeworthy, Election deniers, Embarrassing Republicans, Generic idiocy, Propaganda, Republican lies, The Big Lie, Weird Grand Junction Stuff
Tina Peters reduced to advertising kitty litter on her internet TV show
by 28 Comments
• •Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters spent the evening of Christmas, 2023 hunched over in a RV in the dark broadcasting her internet TV show, “The Tina Peters Show,” over wifi from an undisclosed location. She told viewers that for her, Christmas “is always a little bit quiet because the criminals have taken most of my family.” She interviewed an anti vaxx, anti-mask, election-denier conspiracy theorist-attorney from Oregon, begged viewers to donate money to help fund her personal support and legal expenses, warned viewers against taking vaccines, promoted fake Covid-19 cures and treatments, expressed her hope that “the scales would fall from the eyes” of Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein and the judge in her criminal case and both would undergo a Biblical awakening within the next 6 weeks before her criminal trial starts on February 9, see the error of their ways and drop all of the charges against her, since in her own mind she’s done nothing wrong.
Tina complained, “They want to put me in prison for being a whistleblower.”
Advertising, Conspiracy theories, Crazy Republicans, Crime, Dangerous Republicans, Democracy under threat, Election deniers, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Republicans violating laws, Tina Peters, Trump Insanity
Defiant, Tina Peters is making a living denigrating the justice system, telling lies, selling bogus Covid supplements and boosting other liars and lunatics
by 8 Comments
• •Prior to being Mesa County Clerk, Tina Peters was a charlatan who made a living promoting work-from-home, get-rich quick schemes and selling unproven health remedies like magnets, shoe inserts and dietary supplements, telling people they would improve conditions like neuropathy, fibromyalgia, high blood pressure, autism and diabetes. As she awaits her February, 9, 2024 trial on criminal charges, she is falling back on this tactic, turbo-boosting her cons by capitalizing on her new-found fame as a national figure in the election denier business.
This time, however, her new-found charlatanism is far more dangerous and corrosive to American society.
Advertising, Corporations, Corruption, Ethics, Marketing, Red Rock dealerships, Red Rock Nissan, Scams
Red Rock promotes its reviews on TV, but wait…
by 1 Comment
• •The Red Rock Auto Group, which owns five dealerships in Grand Junction, has been advertising heavily on local news with ads that tout what they say are their many positive reviews.
We’ve already seen evidence, however, that indicates Red Rock manipulates online reviews by coercing its employees to write positive reviews (a violation Google policy) and by purchasing good reviews from customers by offering them perks like free gas and oil changes in exchange for positive online reviews.
But we shouldn’t forget the slew of gritty and honest negative reviews that show the real difficulty Red Rock has caused so many customers, and the responses or lack thereof to such reviews from “the owner.”
Advertising, Consumer advocacy, Economics, Scams, Weird western slope stuff
Red Rock Kia charging customers more for paying cash
by 1 Comment
• •Red Rock Kia is advertising a 2018 Nissan Murano on Facebook Marketplace with two different prices: one if a customer finances the car, and another almost $900 higher for customers who pay cash.
The ad points to the financed price, and crows “Saves money!”
Come on, Red Rock. We’re not idiots.
Any form of financing will cost a buyer far more than they can ever save on this deal.
Even under the best circumstances, for example a customer who finances $27,000, has an excellent credit score and a 48 month loan at a 5% interest rate, after adding taxes and fees to the deal, the interest on that loan will cost at least $3,350.
Small potatoes compared to the what Red Rock wants to charge people who pay cash.
It’s legal for them to do this. After all, they’re telling you about it right up front, as they should
But that also gives people the ability to vote with their feet by patronizing businesses that don’t discriminate against customers based on form of payment.
Advertising, Corporations, Economics, Ethics, Greedwashing, Scams
Red Rock Auto Group’s greedwashing campaign
by 11 Comments
• •After a company has been outed as over-the-top greedy, there’s nothing left for it to do but make conspicuous donations to local charities to score public relations points and blow smoke to make people forget about how their business has harmed the community in the long term.
That’s likely why, near the end of 2022, after all the unseemly tactics Red Rock Auto dealerships had been using on customers to fleece them out of thousands of dollars over the last 7 years were exposed, Red Rock suddenly started ramping up its donations to local charities and promoting their donations in ads on TV and through free media given to them by local TV stations and newspapers.
A company that ingratiates itself to reputable charitable causes as a way to distract from its immoral acts is engaging in a form of “greedwashing,” a term developed during the taxpayer-funded federal bailouts of the big banks during the economic crash of 2008-2009:
Advertising, Consumer advocacy, Crime, Ethics, Red Rock dealerships, Red Rock Nissan, Scams
First hint of accountability for Red Rock
by 3 Comments
• •Michelle Mondragon, whose hair-raising story about buying a vehicle from Red Rock Nissan last year was featured in this blog November 1, 2022, received the above letter from the Colorado Department of Revenue’s Auto Industry Division last week indicating they have finally taken some action against the dealership, albeit a very weak action.
The letter warns Red Rock they “may have” violated several laws and regulations in the Mondragons’ case regarding deceptive advertising and sales of vehicles, and says “No action will be taken against your dealer’s license at this time. However, any further violations may be referred to the Motor Vehicle Dealer board,” and “your dealer’s license may be subject to disciplinary action that could include fines, suspension or revocation of your license. It is imperative that you take measures to correct the matters within your organization.”
This is likely just the beginning.
The Mondragons submitted their complaint against Red Rock last October. Since then, many more Red Rock customers have submitted complaints about how Red Rock defrauded them.
If you review paperwork from your deal at Red Rock and find irregularities like forged signatures, charges for items you never agreed to like extended warranties, special coatings or detail packages, or if you check with your lender and find Red Rock lied to them about your gross income, monthly rent or mortgage payment or the features of the vehicle you were buying, file a complaint with the Auto Industry Division at this link. Be prepared to upload images of your paperwork to substantiate what you found that was fraudulent.
Advertising, Consumer advocacy, Crime, Ethics, Marketing, Red Rock dealerships, Scams
Customers fleeced out of thousands by Grand Junction Red Rock dealerships
by 58 Comments
• •People who patronized Grand Junction Red Rock dealerships are warning others shopping for vehicles locally that the dealerships used shady techniques to cheat them, or attempt to cheat them, out of thousands of dollars without their knowing.
Coronavirus pandemic, Ethics, Greg Haitz, Health, Public health, Quackery, Safety, Scams
Does Greg Haitz’s furtive editing of his “Immune Support Pack” page indicate consciousness of guilt?
by 12 Comments
• •Last month we noticed that Grand Junction chiropractor Greg Haitz of the Rimrock Wellness Center at 12th and Patterson, was marketing his own proprietary “Rimrock Wellness Center” brand of dietary supplement, “Immune Support Pack,” with a description that inferred the product could help mitigate or protect against Covid-19, or “C19”:
The National Institutes of Health currently warns Americans that
“Data are insufficient to support recommendations for or against the use of any vitamin, mineral, herb or other botanical, fatty acid, or other dietary supplement ingredient to prevent or treat COVID-19.”
At the same time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is actively monitoring for firms that are marketing products using fraudulent claims that they can prevent, mitigate or treat COVID-19.
After the blog about this product was published, we noticed Haitz edited his “Immune Support Pack” web page to remove the descriptive paragraph previously seen above, and instead he had substituted a list of five published studies:
Advertising, Conservatives, Crazy Republicans, Dangerous Republicans, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Generic idiocy, Greg Haitz, Health care, Lies, Marketing, Pandemic, Public health
Local chiropractor Greg Haitz is behind “Stop the Mandate GJ,” hawks unproven supplements for Covid-19
by 9 Comments
• •Rimrock Wellness Center, a chiropractic office at 12th and Patterson that also sells fat-loss treatments and supplements, has the same street address as “Stop the Mandate GJ,” the group agitating to stop hospitals, nursing homes and doctors’ offices from requiring health workers be vaccinated against Covid-19, the highly communicable, often deadly disease causing the pandemic. At the same time it is encouraging people to remain unvaccinated, Rimrock Wellness Center is also trying to profit off unvaccinated people’s fear of getting Covid-19, as well as their misperceptions of the relative safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines.
Haitz fraudulently promotes his own brand of supplement as protective against Covid-19
Advertising, Crazy Republicans, Embarrassing Republicans, Lauren Boebert, politics
Shooters Grill logo up for auction by group trying to oust Boebert
by 0 Comments
• •A Colorado-based organization working to oust CD-3 House Rep. Lauren Boebert from Congress, Rural Colorado United (RCU), has managed to purchase the trademark for Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colorado, the restaurant owned by Boebert and her husband, and are auctioning it off to the highest bidder on an online marketplace for digital works.
The situation came about after Toby Morton, a comedy writer for the animated series South Park, created a parody website about Rep. Boebert, TheLaurenBoebert.com, using the same photo Boebert has on the home page of her actual government website.
Advertising, Crazy Republicans, Deplorables, Extremism, Firearms, politics, Trump Insanity, Weird Grand Junction Stuff
Trumpers erect massive, likely illegal, sign display along I-70 at go cart track
by 17 Comments
• •Trump supporters have laboriously erected a huge and impressive pro-Trump signage display along I-70 on the property of the go-cart track.
Problem is, it appears to be illegal.
The display consists of forty one 4 ft. x 8 ft. signs totaling 1,312 square feet of signage.
The go-cart parcel is zoned “AFT” (Agricultural/Forestry Transition), and is non-residential.
Advertising, Corporations, Democracy, Embarrassing Republicans, Equal rights, Ethics, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Intolerance, politics, Trump Insanity
Trump campaign threatens KREX
by 7 Comments
• •KREX received a cease-and-desist letter (pdf) from President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign threatening the station over a political ad it ran called “Exponential Threat” produced by Priorities USA, a Democratic super PAC.
The ad juxtaposes a montage of the many dismissive comments Trump made about the Coronavirus pandemic earlier this year with an animated chart showing the rising number of infections in the United States. It ends by saying: “America needs a leader we can trust.”
The Trump campaign sent the threatening letter to television stations across the country, suggesting it would sue the stations for defamation and urge the Federal Communications Commission to revoke their FCC licenses.