Ford REVERSES gay ad policy, defies "Family" group & southern dealers!

[Bluebear]

Ford Motor Co. yesterday said it will resume advertising Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles in gay-themed publications, following an outpouring of fury from gay groups that said Ford's recent decision to pull the ads fed anti-gay sentiment and emboldened enemies of gay rights.

"I think we're back in gear with Ford," said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce. "They responded to each of the concerns we raised in a positive way. It's a great outcome."

In a letter addressed to the groups, Ford said not only will it resume buying corporate ads featuring Land Rover and Jaguar, it will begin advertising Ford's other brands in gay-themed publications as well. In the past, Ford had not purchased advertisements for the Ford, Mercury and Lincoln brands in gay-oriented publications. The letter, written by Joe W. Laymon, Ford's group vice president for corporate human resources, stated that he hoped the ad reversal will "remove any ambiguity about Ford's desire to advertise to all important audiences and put this particular issue behind us."

...In May, the Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association threatened Ford with a boycott because it objected to the automaker extending partner benefits to gay employees, and because Ford supported gay events and advertised in gay publications. A spokesman for the American Family Association said the group had no comment on Ford's reversal. The group owns 200 radio stations under the American Family Radio name and claims more than 3 million supporters. Last month, the association canceled its boycott after meeting with Ford officials and dealers. A dealer who attended the meeting said he initiated the summit because he and other Ford dealers in the South feared that a boycott would hurt sales.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/14/AR2005121402361.html?nav=rss_business

[unblock]

1. they can't afford NOT to advertize.

they need all the sales they can get.

and in the end, a boycott is just more publicity....

[Bluebear]

2. Hmm, gay men & women with better than average incomes...

or followers of TV envagelists who send their money in to same....who will buy a Jag or a Lincoln?

[ruggerson]

7. Religious rightwingers

are lower in income than the average American.

Of course, that's excepting the folks that make millions off this gullible group. Like Falwell, Robertson, Beverly and Tim LaHaye, etc.

[mondo joe]

3. How many more corporations will make this mistake???

First Microsoft, then Ford, bends over for the reich wing only to back flip later on.

[Terran]

4. OMG, this is HUGE repudiation of the AFA and similar homophobic

groups. And make no mistake--the AFA's threatened boycott of Ford was PURE homophobia, just nasty downright mean-spirited bullying of people who were doing nothing to hurt anyone. This is like kicking the AFA in the stomach!

[madrchsod]

5. do the niitwits in the afa buy jags and rovers?

i doubt it.....

[ruggerson]

6. Who can afford a Jag?

Well heeled white collar gays and lesbians or trailer park fundamentalists?

This wasn't a hard decision for any Ford execs with brains.

[MercutioATC]

13. Jags start at $33k new...that's not outrageously expensive.

http://www.jaguarusa.com/us/en/vehicles/x-type/Models_Pricing/Models_and_Pricing.htm?route=_us_en_home@__link__ContextLink_1_1

[justgamma]

8. Ignor them, Maybe they'll just fade away. n/t

[Ally McLesbian]

9. I'll believe them...

... when they actually do it.

I'm still fed up at Ford for even daring to listen to AFA.

Ford still needs to restore its support of gay rights organizations.

[saltpoint]

10. When Ford announced last week it was pulling the ads --

-- I was deeply disappointed in them.

This turn-around is welcome.

Let other corporations take note that they have to tell the Far Right to cram it.

[madmark]

11. I think its a commercial no-brainer; gay people tend to be

the more affluent and make up about 10% of population. What's the purchasing power of AFA and its sympathizers and what % of the population are they? I'm going to estimate lower middle class and .001% of the population.

[donheld]

12. Bite me AFA bite me!

I hope this is a hard slap in their faces.