Ford faces backlash over gay ads

[SevenSeasJim]

Ford faces backlash over gay ads

Friday, December 16, 2005 Posted: 1508 GMT (2308 HKT)

DETROIT, Michigan (AP) -- The conservative American Family Association says it will consider reinstating a boycott against Ford Motor Co. because the automaker plans to continue running advertisements in gay publications.

Ford said last week it planned to stop advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands in gay publications to reduce its marketing costs.

But after gay rights groups complained and held meetings with the automaker, Ford reversed course and said Wednesday it would continue to advertise all of its eight brands in gay publications.

There was a Jaguar ad Thursday afternoon on the Web site of The Advocate, a biweekly gay magazine.

"We had an agreement with Ford, worked out in good faith. Unfortunately, some Ford Motor Co. officials made the decision to violate the good faith agreement," AFA Chairman Don Wildmon said in a news release Thursday. "We are now considering our response to the violation and expect to reach a decision very soon."

The AFA originally called for a boycott against Ford last spring but suspended the boycott for six months at the request of a group of Ford dealers.

"All we wanted was for Ford to refrain from choosing sides in the cultural war, and supporting groups which promote same-sex marriage is not remaining neutral," Wildmon said.

Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes said the company had no comment.

On Wednesday, Ford said it was not ordering its luxury brands to resume their ads but plans to advertise all of its brands in gay publications.

"It is my hope that this will remove any ambiguity about Ford's desire to advertise to all important audiences and put this particular issue to rest," Joe Laymon, Ford's group vice president for corporate human resources, said in a statement.

Ford shares rose 1 cent Thursday to close at $8.17 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[AdamH]

The source of all things queer, Dan Savage, talks at length about this in this week's column.

Among others things he said that previous AFA boycotts (Disney, for instance) eventually were dropped because they were deemed ineffective. Orgs. such as Kraft has told them to go fuck themselves. Glad Ford is going to do the same.

[Lazlo]

How did they even find out? Seems to me that the Conservative American Family Association has some homos in their midst.

Rock on sisters.

[MarcO]

I just checked my calendar. It said it was 2005. Is this correct?

thanks in advance.

[Lazlo]

Is it 2005 already? Where have I been?

[d_rawk]

Haha, I imagine the AFA, Focus On The Family, and similar groups have many a self-hating homo in their midst.

They found out because Ford started pulling their ads from certain publications with explanation. Except for Volvo ads, apparently, because I guess you just can't dissasociate Volvo and queers

"Nearly three-quarters (72%) of GLBT consumers indicate they are more likely to consider purchasing a vehicle from a manufacturer that has specifically targeted automotive advertising to the GLBT community," said Krulikowski. He added, "Volkswagen, Subaru, Volvo and BMW are perceived as the top brands that extend the greatest outreach to the GLBT community through their marketing communications."

Darker still is that the AFA is loudly trumpeting the research/propoganda of the Family Research Institute. This is a group that has been identified in the past as a hate group, and is involved in wrangling with the same organization that took on the KKK. Ford's initial caving under these circumstances is particularly disturbing.

Seems Ford is having second thoughts, which is good. The Royal Bank and Famous Players Theatres still have black marks on their record for giving in under pressure from Defend Marriage Canada and the Canada Christian College.

Not directly on topic, but tangentially related, this guy thinks we should have 'Quit Gay Sex' campaigns of the same calibre as 'Quit Smoking' campaigns. Yeah, I'm [color:purple]totally sure that his primary concern is for the health and wellbeing of gay men.

Have you noticed that many news organizations, in honor of former ABC News anchorman Peter Jennings, have embarked on a quit smoking campaign? So why don't our media launch a campaign advising people to quit engaging in the dangerous and addictive homosexual lifestyle? Life-threatening sexually transmitted diseases among homosexuals are on the increase.

...

[Last]...November ABC News... [produced a] series of stories entitled "Quit to Live: Fighting Lung Cancer."

That's performing a good public service. But let's take this humanitarian impulse one step further. We would suggest that ABC News take on another dangerous practice—homosexuality.

...

As if it wasn't bad enough that the homosexual men are HIV-positive, they simply cannot stop having sex with other men.

...

It appears that the homosexual lifestyle is as addictive as smoking.

*big* *fucking* *yawn*

Geezus. I find it hard to stop having sex with women. I didn't even know that I was addicted and needed help! Hopefully once they successfully save the gay men from their hedonistic impulses, they can deign to help the rest of us. I just *know* that a 'Stop fucking, fucker!' ad would change my life for good ...

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Don Wildmon... I have this instinctive impulse to retch when I see his name. Come to think of it, I have this allergic reaction to Focus on the Family and the Family Research Institute (a branch plant of FotF that had to put some nominal distance between them for tax/polical reasons). These people are addicted to their own conceit. Evangelicalism and fundamentalism are troubling psychological afflictions, but can be overcome with proper therapy.

Mel White's Stranger at the Gate is a great read to see an insider's perspective on being gay in one of these groups. He'd been a ghost-writer for Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, and put himself through every sort of therapy (including electro-shock) until he arrived at the conclusion that God could deal with him in his own terms. The evangelicals couldn't, though, and he was frozen out. He went on to found the group Soulforce to help folks in similar straits.

Mel White homepage

Soulforce

Best part is that he's got a great sense of humour, unlike his antagonists.

[meggo]

I just checked my calendar. It said it was 2005. Is this correct?

no kidding. sweet jesus. [very tired, that's all i got. but i'm all a-rage inside.]

[SevenSeasJim]

I just checked my calendar. It said it was 2005. Is this correct?

thanks in advance.

It is. In fact it's almost 2006.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Problem is that these characters read the date as one year closer to the Apocalypse.