Ford ad decision
angers gay groups
Conservative group
lifts boycott after Ford says
most brands will not
market to homosexuals.
David Phillips,
detnews.com from the Web, December 6, 2005
Detroit -- Gay and lesbian
advocacy groups sharply criticized Ford Motor Co. for agreeing to stop
advertising in gay-themed publications in the face of a boycott by the
conservative American Family Association.
The AFA, based in Tupelo, Miss., launched a boycott of Ford in May to protest
marketing aimed at gay and lesbian consumers as well as benefits the company
extends to same-sex couples. The boycott was suspended for six months in
June when Ford and dealer representatives met with the group. With the
boycott set to resume last week, Ford dispatched two top company officers --
Ziad Ojakli, group vice president for corporate affairs, and David Leitch,
senior vice president and general counsel, and a top dealer to Tupelo to meet
with AFA officials last Tuesday.
Ford told the AFA that its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands have not advertised
in gay and lesbian publications and will not in the future, said Ford spokesman
Mike Moran. Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover brands will no longer target gay
consumers through advertising, a move Moran called a "business decision."
Only Volvo, Ford's Sweden-based brand, will continue marketing directly to gays
and lesbians. After the meeting, AFA, which has 3 million members, agreed
to lift the boycott. That has led some gay and lesbian organizations to
say the automaker caved in to pressure from the religious right.
"We are deeply dismayed that Ford has entered into a confidential agreement with
the extremist American Family Association that requires Ford to stop advertising
in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender media," a group of 17 gay and lesbian
organizations said in a joint statement issued Monday.
"If there is an agreement with AFA, we expect Ford to disavow it. We
expect Ford to publicly reaffirm its historic support for our community.
And, we expect Ford to meet with LGBT representatives this week to resolve these
concerns."
The boycott was partly initiated by ads used in Europe that offended some Ford
customers.
Ford said that it could have marketed its products in a manner that was just as
effective without offending consumers.
Despite the agreement, Ford said it will continue to advertise to select
consumer groups, as needed.
"We reserve the right to advertise our brands and products wherever we think it
makes business sense," Ojakli and Leitch wrote in a letter Monday to Suzanne
Wait, head of Ford's gay and lesbian employee group.
And Ford said its nondiscrimination policies covering employees, regardless of
race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and cultural and physical
differences, will not change. Moran would not say whether Ford plans to
continue contributing to gay and lesbian organizations and causes, which was
another issue that led to AFA to launch the boycott in May.
Jerry Reynolds, an influential Ford dealer in Garland, Texas, who joined company
executives in the meeting with AFA officials last week, said many dealers were
concerned about the boycott. In the end, he said Ford made the changes
because of financial concerns.
"It had a lot more to do with pure business than anything else. They are
cutting back everywhere," Reynolds said.
AFA Chairman Donald E. Wildmon said the group ended the boycott after local
dealers made the resolution possible. "While we still have a few
differences with Ford, we feel that our concerns are being addressed in good
faith and will continue to be addressed in the future," he said. "The
dealers were very helpful in bridging a gap and opening a line of communication
between AFA and Ford. The dealers are basically our kind of people who
share many of our concerns."
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