Ford, Reversing
Decision, Will Run Ads
in Gay Press
By JEREMY W. PETERS,
NYTimes on the Web, December 15, 2005
DETROIT, Dec. 14 -- Less than
two weeks after the Ford Motor Company said it would all but eliminate its
advertising in publications that cater to gays, the company reversed itself
Wednesday.
The decision followed a wave of criticism from gay rights groups, who had
accused Ford of bowing to the threat of a boycott from the American Family
Association.
Ford's announcement, which gay advocates immediately praised, also included
other steps to broaden the automaker's relations with gay consumers and repair
damage from the initial decision to stop advertising.
In a letter Wednesday to gay advocacy groups, Ford said that in addition to its
current advertising campaigns in gay media, it would expand the ads to encompass
all eight Ford brands. Previously, only Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo ran
ads in gay publications. Now, the company has said it will advertise its
Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda and Aston Martin brands in the gay press.
"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 behind us,"
Ford's vice president for corporate human resources, Joe W. Laymon, said in the
letter.
Ford also said it would continue to sponsor gay groups and events but plans to
cut back on all charitable donations because of declining profits.
During a meeting with senior Ford executives on Monday, the heads of several gay
groups asked Ford to reinstate its advertising and distance itself from the
American Family Association, which in the past has put pressure on corporations
that support gay causes. On Wednesday, leaders of gay groups said they
were pleased with Ford's actions.
"This really proves that at Ford Motor Company, fairness and equality win out,"
said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign. "Occasionally
in this process we hit a bump in the road, and that's what happened here.
The good and important thing is Ford is back on track."
A spokeswoman for the American Family Association said the group had no comment.
A Ford spokeswoman declined to comment beyond the company's letter.
Ford's letter did not repudiate its relationship with the association, which it
met with after the group's boycott was announced in May. But Mr. Laymon
wrote, "We expect to be measured not by the meetings we conduct but by our
conduct itself."
Ford now hopes to end an embarrassing public relations problem that left many
puzzled. Ford has long sponsored gay rights groups and provided the same
health care benefits to homosexual couples as it does to heterosexuals.
It was Ford's support of gay causes that led the American Family Association to
call for a boycott. The association cited what it called Ford's "extensive
promotion of homosexuality," including the company's training in tolerance of
gays and ads designed specifically for gay audiences.
After Ford learned of the boycott, company executives began meeting with the
association, which then agreed to temporarily suspend its boycott. The two
sides talked on and off for six months. Two weeks ago Ford said Jaguar and
Land Rover, but not Volvo, would stop advertising in gay publications. The
family association claimed victory, but Ford said the decision was only a way
for the company to cut costs.
In its letter on Wednesday, Ford said, "It is clear there is a misperception
about our intent."
Confusion over the motives for Ford's decision to drop the ads remained.
"I don't think we'll ever know the story," said Jeff Montgomery of the Triangle
Foundation, a gay rights group in Michigan.
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