European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 03, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday february 3,1992 the stars and stripes b Page 17money matters Raythelon co. Has announced that the air Force has awarded it a $166.6 million contract to produce 200 anti missile electronic devices used on fighter planes. Raythelon of Lexington mass., said the air Force exercised its option to a third contract for the devices called an/alq-184 electronic countermeasure pods the pods which Emit signals designed to deflect enemy missiles were first tested in combat during t be persian Gulf War and performed reliably the company said. The agreement issued by the air logistics Center at Robins fab ga., Calls for the 200 pods to be used by f-15, f-16 Ana a-10 combat aircraft the pods Are built at Rathe on a electronic systems division in go Leta  rates London up Friday s rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at 355.25 an ounce Sliver at 4.15. Jan. 30 Jan. 31 British pound.1.7755 1.7915 German mark.1.6125 1.6050 French franc.5,4675 5.4900 dutch guilder.1.6260 1.6092 belgian frimc.33.05 33.09 Kalian lira.1.205.50 1,216.60 Swiss franc.1.4300 1.4275 greek drachma.165.30 186.52 turkish lira.5.484.50 5,518.70 saudi arabian riyal.3.7499 3.7499 Span tar peseta.100.78 101.55 portuguese escudo.137.92 139.01 Canevari Dollar.1.1760 1,1745 austrian schilling.11.2900 11.3700 norwegian krone.6.2860 6.3355 danish krone.6.2090 6.2605 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be 1,57 through monday based on Friday s noontime  of lbs May try again to buy Macy s new York a lbs chief Laurence Tisch May make a second offer to take Over . Macy amp co., a financial newspaper reported. A a in a certain Tisch will resurface with a cheaper takeover offer a Sandra Mayerson bankruptcy lawyer with the firm Kelley Drye and Warren told Crains new York business in the feb. 3 Issue. Two weeks ago Tisch offered $1 billion to buy the department store Chain but was rebuffed when the company a mortgage Lender Prudential insurance co. Of America  agree to restructure its debt. Macy a sagging under a $3.4 billion debt filed for bankruptcy Protection last week. Crains said Macy a shareholders stand to lose much of the $500 million they invested in the company if the bankruptcy Protection Case proceeds Ana creditors end up fighting for the leftovers. Preferred shareholders such As Tisch chairman and chief executive of lbs would get just 8 cents on the Dollar. Management shareholders will Likely receive just 2 cents on the Dollar the newspaper said. Auto Industry uses tawdry ads to Bash japanese Competition by Stuart Elliott the new York times a renewed wave of harsh attacks on japanese cars and trucks is inundating television and newspapers As sort of the evil twin of the automotive Industry so buy american advertising. Many of these new passionate possibly xenophobic pitches seem the automotive equivalent of negative political advertising. Instead of Willie Horton smug shot however the villain is depicted by rising suns backed by sour sounding string music meant to mimic the tones of the japanese Koto and lest these be too Subtle there Are demonstrations to remember Pearl Harbor. The new round of ads stems from the perceived failure of president Bush a Trade Mission to Japan and from the recent criticism of american workers by japanese politicians and business executives. The ads which not Only Praise american vehicles but also Bash the Toyota and hondas of the world Are typified in a television commercial by the Deutsch inc. Agency for the metropolitan new York Pontiac dealers. A Stem voiced announcer reminds viewers of the remarks by Yoshio Sakurauchi a japanese politician calling americans Lazy and illiterate. The remarks Are printed on screen against a rising Sun. The word a a japanese is All uppercase. The announcer says sarcastically a Well excuse  after touting the attributes of the Pontiac grand am Over the Honda Accord and the Toyota camry he adds sneering by a maybe they need a Reading  among other such campaigns Are print advertisements for a Chrysler Plymouth dealer in Anchorage Alaska that present world War ii images from the attack on Pearl Harbor to a a Day when War with Japan ended. And one for a Yonkers n.y., Lincoln Mercury dealer that mocks Danny the fictional Salesman in a Long running Campaign for the metropolitan new York Honda dealers. A sorry Danny not All americans Are stupid a reads the and which lists a american jobs As a Selling Point for the Mercury Sable. The overheated rhetoric is far More prevalent in ads by local dealers than in National campaigns in the same Way that local politicians Are More Likely to a go negative than say the president. Although these ads attract attention a crucial at a time when recession weary Consumers Are Loath to buy cars or trucks a automotive Industry consultants As Well As Many advertising executives and . Trade partners . Trade surplus deficit with Japan and the eco a High billions of dollars Japan -20 -40 �?~6� 1985 �?T86 �?T87 �?T88 �?T89 �?T90 �?T91" the 12 countries in the european Community Are Italy France United kingdom Portugal Spain Belgium Netherlands Germany Luxembourg Greece Denmark Ireland. Quot figures Lor 1991 Are estimated source Commerce department academics condemn them. Their opposition stems not so much from whether the ads Are mean spirited or unpleasant but from an opinion that they simply do not work and May even be counterproductive. Such advertising is a tawdry political grandstanding and disgusting a said Robert Lauter bom a professor of advertising at the University of North Carolinas journalism school at Chapel Hill. A demagoguery has always been the successful Refuge of the scoundrel a he added a but its still  a car maker or dealer using this strategy a is digging a Hole for himself a said Christopher Cedergren senior vice president of the Auto Pacific group a Santa Ana calif., automotive marketing consulting company. A i can understand Why they re doing it a he added. A business worse than stinks. They la think of anything they can to try to move product. A but negative advertising like that a he added a where you Are basically scolding the consumer does no to do your business any Good a one big reason these ads backfire said David Stewart a professor of marketing at the University of Southern California is that a they May Only frustrate the consumer because its difficult to determine what a a japanese product and whats an american product a for instance the cars cited in Deutsche a Pontiac spot the Accord and a we. J. Costello camry arc made in american factories. Indeed a current television and print Campaign by Saatchi amp Saatchi Dos Pacific salutes the american workers at Toyota a Georgetown ky., camry Plant. And a you might have a Dodge dealer waving the Flag a Cedergren said a while half the minivans he a Selling have v-6 engines from  that is in addition he said to the anomaly that a a lot of the dealers who Are shouting a buy american arc the same dealers who own the Nissan Dealership Down the  another reason these ads do not succeed Lauter bom said is that they Appeal mostly to americans a who Are still fighting the second world War a that is older Consumers who arc already More inclined to buy american built vehicles rather than those made overseas. Donny Deutsch the executive vice president and creative director at Deutsch acknowledged that a there is a danger in campaigns like his. Indeed previous Deutsch spots for the Pontiac dealers were castigated for their jingoism. One warned Consumers that if they a keep buying japanese cars a they might someday visit a the big Christmas tree at Hirohito  yet he said a a it a a message a lot of people want to hear. And you need emotion to get people thinking. A will it sell cars a he asked. A Well  soviet built Lada leaves porsche in the dust Berlin apr its grown this bad the sleek porsche a Symbol of performance and prestige was outsold in Western Germany last year by a soviet built Auto. The Stuttgart based luxury sports car sold just 9,738 cars in Western Germany last year or .3 percent of the West German Market according to the automobile association an Industry group. By comparison the soviet built Lada made a Dent in the Western German mar Ket by Selling 12,463 vehicles or .4 percent of the Market. Skoda Automo Ilova As of Czechoslovakia also made a Small inroad Selling 3,072 units in West Germany for a .1 percent Market share. Even trabant the tiny two Cycle Eastern German car company that ceased e reduction last year managed to skim a it of its inventory by Selling 553 cars in Western Germany. Porsche last september announced that it would Cut 550 of its 8,000 jobs to reduce costs and Cope with intense Competition. Its sales of 26,486 cars worldwide in 1991 were off 15 percent from the previous year. Although the same people who would buy a Lada would not buy a porsche the comparable Market share shows just How badly the venerable family owned German automaker has been doing