Molly and Owen of General Electric move to ABB

General Electric makes a lot of stuff. Refrigerators, light bulbs, windpower turbines, trains, aircraft engines, weapons, and much much more. So much stuff that GE runs TV ads to explain who GE is. Cute ads featuring Molly, the Kid Who Never Stops Inventing and Owen the Programmer of Turbines.

Now General Electric will be making one less thing–industrial solutions. GE sold its industrial unit for $2.6 billion to ABB. That division includes circuit breakers, switchgear, components for lighting control, and power supply equipment.

Now that General Electric unloads its industrial unit, what about Owen and Molly? Will Owen have to explain what ABB is to his Zazzies-loving friends? Will Molly grow up to program robot inspectors for ABB?

Why run ads to convince people to join your company, if months later you end up selling that part of your company? Perhaps these weren’t recruitment ads, these were ads to intice a buyer for GE.