Ford addresses diversity and advertising
What with all the hoopla surrounding the American Family Association and its relationship and/or influence on the
Blue Oval, Ford Motor Company released a short statement today saying that its commitment to diversity as an employer
and corporate citizen remain unchanged and that its advertising decisions are driven strictly by a business case,
including Volvo, which has decided to market directly to the gay and lesbian community.
It's certainly true that Ford is on the forefront when it comes to inclusion of minority groups. A quick scan of the
career section of Ford's website turned up this
statement of company policy: "Opportunities for employment and advancement will be available on a
non-discriminatory basis—without regard to race, color, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin,
handicap, or veteran status." (Their italics, not ours). Also, one of the company-sponsored Employee Resource
Groups at Ford is Ford-GLOBE (Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual
Employees), which actively champions diversity education, recruiting and marketing from within the company.
[Source - Ford]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
SmellzFishy 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Ford will cover its ass nicely because the company really isn't anti-gay at all.
I think that some of those gay-hating "Family Values" morons are just trying to cover for their own sexual inadequacies. Maybe some of those Fundies need a cock to suck.
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md 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Honestly, there was a reason that Ford was boycotted in the first place by these people: they support open mindness. There is no reason Ford would sudenly turn on it. If they did there would probably an exodus of open-minded people from the company
Honestly, Ford is known as a very diverse company as it is, maybe they determined that their advertisements in the gay and lesbian community publications weren't really bringing in any more sales than their mainstream advertising already does.
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Randy Stern 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
John, I wanted to commend you and the Autoblog team for covering this story as well as you did. It's hard to parse out the comments, both pro and con, when covering this news.
Certainly, I got wrapped up in the emotion in it with my own writing on it, but you learn a few things along the way. Everyone loves cars and when something that affects their lives happens, people will respond. In the end, we're all enthusiasts.
I just hope that Ford retains the Human Resources part of their diversity commitment. They've done more than other companies that are doing business in the USA.
Again, thanks John! Keep up the good work!
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Chris Doane 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
" its advertising decisions are driven strictly by a business case"
Dont believe that for a second.
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Ryan 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
#4
" its advertising decisions are driven strictly by a business case"
Dont believe that for a second.
-Freaking right on!!! Yeah a scared business case.
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Ryan 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
How could you put it? I guess ford is the bottom right now?! :-)
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Merkis 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Regarding the withdraw of the boycot by the AFA of Ford:
As I Christian, I believe in right and wrong- something I relize not everyone else recognizes. Please don't stop reading just because I say this.
Ford made a business desicion- Christians (according to Fox News) make up 85% of America, while gays make up 3%.
At this time of cost cutting, who do you think Ford would cut advertising for? They're just after money- it's obvious.
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Robert Farago 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Oh please. Are we to believe that Ford's decision to withdraw its advertising from The Advocate ON THE SAME DAY as the announced end of the AFA boycott is just a coincidence?
When initially asked about the AFA boycott, Ford referred reporters to the AFA's announcement, which claimed victory. If this was not the case, why would they do that?
And if the change in marketing orientation (so to speak) was "strictly business", why not release the terms of the AFA agreement?
I don't think Ford will be able to sweep this issue under the rug. But if it does, shame on us all. Think about it: what if the AFA had forced Ford to remove its advertising from Jewish publications?
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speed42 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
As if I needed another reason not to buy a Ford.
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Tim 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Being a good "corporate citizen" does not include alienating an entire group of people who may be interested in your products. Ford obviously caved to the right-wing AFA and gave into some of their demands. I'm tired of token gestures. They have a corporate non-discrimination policy in hiring, but not in advertising?
But it's dishonest to release a statement saying that the AFA had nothing to do with pulling the ads from all gay and lesbian magazines. That's simply not true.
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Ryan 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Funny how all of the hate seems to be coming from supposed "open minded" people. You all are the real bigots in this country.
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Scott Eaton 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
The AFA types like to think they're America's mainstream, but they're not. As a gay guy, I think the two groups are closer to the same size.
----The quantity of right wingers that would *really* boycott Ford based on this issue is probably much fewer than the quantity of Ford-buying homosexuals.----
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JustJase 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
The AFA claiming that Ford's actions are a result of their boycott seems a lot like religious zealots who claimed that Katrina was God's punishment for New Orleans. Never mind that Bourbon Street (party central) was relatively unscathed.
Both were purely coincidental and these idiots claim the glory for it.
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Peter W. 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Btchzplz.
If anything... whether or not the manufacturer is LBGT friendly ranks into car-buying about as much as whether you liked the coffee the dealer made. It's a nicety, but really, it has to do more with Ford Employees than it does with Ford Customers.
I'm pretty sure 99% of the decision to pull ads was "we're not profitable enough to sustain them and now is as good a time as any to cut the pork" and 1% was "now send AFA a memo". Then AFA took that memo like an early Christmas present because they're dumb like that.
This is a highly debatable, yet completely non-impacting issue. I highly doubt anyone here was buying a car with so much impact on whether or not the company that made it was nice to the LGBT community. Last time I checked, it was something inane like price, styling, handling, and cupholder placement. "They did something that looked bad LGBT wise if you look at it from the AFA's point of view" is not worth more than safety ratings or suspension design.
Now quit bloviating about how Ford is evil (they're not) and why you get to act all dramatic about it (you don't). If you don't like Ford products, fine... but this is a really stupid excuse guys.
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Merkis 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Let's look at this with an open mind-
1: Ford is advertising to gays.
2: AFA starts a boycott
3: Ford realizes that Christians make up 85% of the US population (that's the last number I've heard [from Fox News])
4: Ford realizes that gays make up around 3% (less than five, I know)
5: Ford remembers election 2004
6: Ford decides to pull it's ads
Conclusion: Ford made a business desicion to try to include a larger portian of the population (Christians) rather than cator to a much smaller group (gays).
Not to start a debate or anything, but EVERY single time gay marraige has been given to the American people for a vote it's been rejected by over whelming majorities- even in Oregan (arguably not a conservative state).
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Nathan Jones 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
What a crock of sh*t.
Forgive me for quoting this but I couldn't say it any better:
Ford lied.
Two top Ford spokesman Mike Moran and Jim Cain have confirmed that the company caved to religious right pressure.
When asked if the advertising was being discontinued because of the threatened AFA boycott, Moran said, ''Ceasing advertising is an outgrowth of those meetings.''
Cain confirmed that Ford was pulling ads from "advocacy publications," which seems to cover every gay magazine and newspaper in the country since they "advocate" a "gay rights agenda."
Cain said that this all started due to Ford ads in Europe, which apparently include some gay people/couples in a positive way.
He also confirmed that Ford had indeed reached a formal settlement with AFA, and this specifically includes withdrawing advertising for certain Ford vehicles from LGBT publications/media.
He tried to wiggle out of it by saying that Ford had a good track record re the LGBT community.
Ford has agreed to stop supporting gay events. We now find out that Ford's Volvo ads will continue in gay publications, but the ads will no longer target the gay community - meaning, they'll use generic ads that they're using elsewhere.
Ford didn't just lie, they caved to the AFA big time. A major US corporation is no longer supporting gay and lesbian organizations - something it did to a large degree in the past - because an extremist gay-hating hate group threatened them.
Ford and all their brands are dead in the gay community.
NJ
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Nathan Jones 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Since when does "majority" rule in the United States?
Have you ever heard this story?
It involves a man who wanted his car painted dark blue and the guy at the paint shop who along with his co-workers paint it "a beautiful shade of lilac" instead.
"We just thought it'd look better that way," the guy explains to the fuming customer.
The moral?
"When you don't vote, other people make decisions for you."
When you really think about it, the man did "vote" -- he told them the color he wanted.
But he lost out to those who "voted" differently.
The REAL moral?
"Beware the tyranny of the majority."
Our Founding Fathers based our system not on the votes of the masses, but on the rights of the individual. DAMMIT!
Governments, they said, are instituted only to secure these rights!
Voting isn't the answer to our problems.
Voting, or making everything susceptible to a vote - IS the problem!
If I were told an executioner is granted authority to kill me by either hanging or the electric chair, would I find any any comfort in being allowed to vote which?
Or would my vote itself merely make for a self-righteous executioner?
After all, my choice of death was attached to a "democratic" outcome!
NJ
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Spark Dog 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
That picture looks good that autoblogs put there. It shows Ford's true colors, messed up! Ford is messed up and they should not put God out of bussiness. They should understand that homosexuality is wrong and that the majority of Americans believe so. America will begin to turn away from Ford. Shame on them.
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Thomas 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
You see, this is actually a stupid business decision - Gays generally have no kids and therefore have more money to spend on luxury items and travel (this is a known fact, check out group demographics that marketing agencies use - gays in general also have finished a higher level of educated and make more money than the average American). These are exactly the type of people that buy Jaguars and Land Rovers (whether or not these are smart purchases is another discussion). How many Land Rovers and Jaguars do you see roaming around rural American... they are alienating a valuable demo - to appease religious zealots - this angers me so much that they would just cave like this...
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Travis Matthews 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
http://www.americablog.org
Here's a great website to check out regarding Ford and other issues for that matter.
To those people quoting Fox News, that is nothing but propaganda from conserviative groups,no wonder you're so close minded!!
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