In the midst of well documented financial difficulties, GM pulled the plug on its sponsorship of several ABC televised events, including the highly publicized Oscar awards. Although undeniably a wise fiscal move for General Motors, the decision to trim the budget left the Oscars with a $13 million dollar void to fill. Luckily, Hyundai was waiting in the wings, and according to announcements made today, Hyundai will be the official sponsor of the 80th Annual Oscar Award ceremony in February 2009. In addition, Hyundai also announced that they will be running two 30-second adverts during the Super Bowl XLIII in January – another event from which GM resigned participation. “With the current business challenges and the tightening of budgets,” GM spokeswoman Kelly Cusinato explained, “We decided to focus our promotional dollars on activities that reach the most customers and get us the most return on investment.”

[Sources: LeftLaneNews/LATimes]