The debate began with the publication of a 1976 a research study by my friend, retired anesthesiologist Chuck Guildner MD of Everett, WA, which concluded chest thrusts were an improvement over than "the Heimlich." (Click here for more about that.)
Car manufacturer Audi appears to agree with Chuck.
Via Audi's electrified Super Bowl ad by Larry P. Vellequette in today's Automotive News:
Spoiler alert: Audi's electrified commercial for Sunday's Super Bowl is a little nuts.
...Seated inside the electric sports car, the man presses the start button, bringing the car to life, but before he can drive off, his chest begins to convulse. The setting abruptly switches to a cubicle in an office, where the man, unconscious, is being given the Heimlich maneuver by a co-worker, and spits out a single cashew that had choked him. He regains consciousness, clearly disappointed.
2/20/19 UPDATE: The Cornell Chronicle published a February 7, 2019 item which incorrectly identified the chest thrust anti-choking treatment performed in the Audi Super Bowl commercial as the "Heimlich maneuver." Click here an archived copy.
As a result of my outreach (which resulted in a fun exchange with Chronicle editors), yesterday the publication published this correction in an updated version of the item:
Other publications made the same error, so I'm sending them this item with requests for published corrections. I'll report the results here.
My original item is below the hash marks.
3/1/19 UPDATE: After receiving my corrections request re: his 2/1/19 item, TopSpeed.com reporter Jonathan Lopez took the "fix the error & none the wiser" route. Here's the original:
Here's v.2:
