"DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. said on Tuesday that its luxury Jaguar and Land Rover brands will no longer advertise in gay publications, but denied that the nation's second largest automaker made the decision under pressure from conservative Christian groups.
"The decisions with regard to advertising was a business decision," Ford spokesman Mike Moran said. He said Ford's Volvo brand would continue advertising in gay publications. Ford hasn't advertised its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands in those publications, Moran added.
Moran said Jaguar and Land Rover, which are part of Ford's money-losing Premier Automotive Group, have decided to cut back on their advertising everywhere because of difficult market conditions. The Premier Automotive Group reported a pretax loss of $108 million in the third quarter.
"They feel pressure on their marketing budgets, so they decided to streamline marketing across the board," Moran said. "They're not supporting as many publications and events as before in 2006."
Moran refused to say how much Ford has spent advertising in gay publications such as The Advocate, a biweekly magazine. Mercedes-Benz was advertising on the Advocate's Web site on Tuesday.
Ford's move came nearly a week after the Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association canceled a boycott of Ford vehicles that began in May, when the group criticized Ford for being too gay-friendly.
"We are ending the boycott of Ford," association Chairman Donald Wildmon said in a statement Wednesday on the group's Web site. "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."
The American Family Association first announced the boycott against Ford and related brands on May 31. The group said Ford gave thousands of dollars to gay rights groups, offered benefits to same-sex couples and actively recruited gay employees."
Ford Ends Ads in Gay Publications
I have a very hard time believing that there wasn't any religious influence in regard to this.
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5 comments:
From what I saw (In my gays-only newsletter) there was, in fact, pressure from the religious right - and the threat of a boycott...
Robbie,
I don't believe that this would have happened without pressure.
I'd believe there was pressure from the right... I wonder if DB will, though, or if he'll say "business decision". (Sorry, couldn't resist)
Just another reason not to be a Ford (not that I ever would have anyway).
if you go to the American Family website (SCARY PLACE!) you can see the CAll to arms, so to speak.
You can also see their ban on Target because Target WON'T wish people Merry Christmas - and instead wishes people "Happy Holidays" - a wonderful thing.
Those people make me sick.
I never supported Ford anyway, because of the anti-semetic activity, but now I have even more reason not to - all counts they are against me.
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