Ford Avoids Pressure Group Boycott But At What Cost?

[kweerwolf]

At what point should Big Business draw the line at tolerating the intolerant?

A case in point has to do with Ford. A threatened boycott by the conservative Christian organization American Family Assn. (AFA) against Ford scheduled for Dec. 1 was averted at the 11th hour.

<snip>

Where the public stands on this particular issue is not so much the point as its broader significance: How far should Big Business go in responding to pressure groups?

The AFA has a long history of taking extreme stands on the National Parent Teachers Assn., the Public Broadcasting System, the National Endowment for the Arts and other “indecent” influences in American culture, including Disney, K-Mart, and now Ford.

http://subscribers.wardsauto.com/microsites/newsarticle.asp?newsarticleid=2755007&srid=10088&pageid=594&Siteid=26&magazineid=1004

[VPStoltz]

1. All of this is crock...

Those freaks don't shop at Target and they don't drive Ford. Why doesn't someone just stand up and say - fuck off - we don't want your fucked up business anyway fuckhead? Just wondering.

[kevinbgoode]

2. No company bargains with a third party

over its relationship with another group without keeping them in the loop. Ford's behavior here was unconscionable. They bargained their goodwill with the LGBT community away in a single agreement with the AFA.

And we will not forget. We need support for the long haul here.

[Sapphocrat]

4. "And we will not forget."

Damn straight. If I were dying in the desert and stumbled across a swimming pool full of Coors, I'd die before tasting a drop.

Fuck Coors. Fuck Ford. Fuck Chik-Fil-A. Fuck Cracker Barrel. Fuck Winn-Dixie. Fuck them all.

[Sapphocrat]

3. At what cost, at what cost...

Well, frankly, I can't boycott Ford, because I wouldn't buy a Ford again for anything anyway; in my experience, the cars are crap. (Sorry, current Ford owners!)

What this has done is re-ignite the sort of disgust (dare I say white-hot hate?) I experience only when LGBTs are directly attacked by one of these fascist extremist religious groups. What do I do about it? Good thing I'm the nonviolent sort -- but then, that wouldn't hurt these lily-livered shitheads at Ford where it really hurts: the pocketbook.

All I can do is express my disgust to Ford, and point out the irony of their cave-in to a "family values" group that is the antithesis of Christianity.

And I'll make sure they know I'm on a quest to contact every car-owning friend and family member I have, to make sure they know that Ford Motor Company caters to right-wing fascists. And that is purely UN-AMERICAN.

Word of mouth is everything.

P.S. Isn't it ironic? Henry Ford... Nazis... Everything comes full circle, doesn't it?

[madrchsod]

5. i`m not sure

but i think ford pulled their advertising from instinct several months ago. i work at the plant that prints and mails the magazine.i usually either stack for news stand or polybag mail the magazine. i`m not there at this time so i can`t check the back issues but before i went on medical leave i think the august and sept had beer ads on the back cover. one would have to research the mags that were dropped and the contracts. was it convenient for ford to say they were not when all along they were not going to renew certain contracts in this marketing cycle. then of course the afa decides to take the credit? can ford really make a marketing decision based on a small minority of whatever they are or a community that makes up 10-15(?) of the car buyers in the usa. i maybe wrong but something just doesn't seem right about the whole thing,especially when it`s the afa