PR and marketing:

Media issue impacts Fords reputation and brand values

published February-March 2006

Companies and their brands increasingly find themselves in the media and public spotlight these days. This puts PR right in the centre of maintaining reputations. 

The Ford Motor Company in the US found itself in such a position last December (2005) when directly opposing demands were made on it by two potentially important consumer groups.

Here’s what happened over a hectic period of conflicting demands:

• The American Family Association (AFA), a group which is traditionally anti-gay, announced on its website that it had threatened Ford with launching a boycott against the company’s entire range due to its promotion of Jaguar and Land Rover within gay publications.
  
  
• Ford responded with spokesman Mike Moran confirming the company would stop advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in all gay publications.
  
  
• The AFA chairman then responded, being quoted in media as saying “[Ford has] heard our concerns. We are pleased with where we are…………. The [Ford] dealers are basically our kind of people who share many of our concerns”.
  
  
• The backlash from media and the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender
  communities was immediate and harsh. One news article introduced the story with “Ford Motor Company, failing in its efforts to increase plummeting sales, has apparently decided that the best way to regain the hearts of Americans is to embrace homophobia” (Bulldog Reporter).
  
  
• 17 gay and lesbian organisations then banded together to issue a statement condemning the situation; “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 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) media. If there is an agreement with the AFA, we expect Ford to disavow it”. The group then called for Ford to meet with them to resolve their concerns.
  
  
• Ford attempted to quell the furore by explaining (through the media) its decision to pull advertising from gay and lesbian publications was a business decision made by the Jaguar and Land Rover brands.
  
  
• However, under pressure, Ford met with a coalition of gay rights groups, afterwards issuing a statement reaffirming its commitment to diversity. It did not reverse the decision made by Jaguar and Land Rover; instead it said it would be inconsistent with the way business was conducted at Ford to direct the individual brands on how and where they advertised.
  
  
• The president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) criticised the statement as not addressing the issues discussed in their meeting and as “[clearly showing they are not] willing to distance themselves, and specifically correct, the statements that have been made by the AFA”.
  
  
• With this issue now in full flight through all US media, Ford issued a letter stating “it is clear there is a misconception about our intent”. The company then announced it had decided to run corporate ads in gay publications featuring all Ford brands. The letter also confirmed Ford’s continuing support of not-for-profit groups and events in the GLBT community, but expressed that support of all communities in 2006 would be limited due to the current financial position of the company. GLAAD was quoted in the media as saying there were no “grey” areas in this second response from Ford.
  
  
• Finally, on15th December, the American Family Association renewed its boycott threat. The association posted a statement on its website accusing Ford Motor Company of “reneging on some agreements” (ABC News). On 11th January 2006 the AFA issued a press release again accusing Ford of reneging on its promises and requesting it “get out of supporting any side of the cultural war”. The AFA then gave Ford until 20th January to respond; this date has since passed and no apparent action appears to have been taken. However www.boycottford.com is still encouraging consumers to back the AFA and boycott Ford products.
  

Whether Ford Motor Company’s initial intentions and actions were incorrectly reported by the American Family Association or Ford changed its position due to public and media pressure is open for debate. Regardless, Ford obviously got itself in a tangle trying to handle this issue.

Historically, the AFA have targeted Ford for many different advertising choices. In the USA in 2002, in response to Ford’s television advertising during the airing of Will & Grace, the AFA encouraged the public to sign online petitions ‘in order to let them know that this kind of advertising is unacceptable and will cause you to go somewhere else if it continues’. Click here for the Action Alert from the AFA and Ford’s response.

The AFA has also criticised Ford for advertising during an episode of Judging Amy which included a nudity scene, and during a screening of Saving Private Ryan which it accused of ‘the biggest deluge of profanity ever heard on the public airwaves’.

In today’s world, perception is reality. It’s hard to believe that this public spat playing out across print, TV and radio throughout the US did anything except alienate both gay/lesbian and conservative groups amongst existing Ford users and prospective Ford buyers. Another outcome was the firm creation of some new brand perceptions for Jaguar and Land Rover.

Strong, forward-looking PR seeks to prepare for such dilemmas. Companies need policies, plans and messaging that support decisions to market through separate channels and markets. This whole episode demonstrates the communication and reputation dangers in allowing too much autonomy for brands and business units.
 

Click links below for further information:

Ford Motor Company’s letter to leading gay organisations

See the business sense behind advertising in gay press: “2004 Gay Press Report”

PR in Action - You decide

If in charge of an organisations advertising/marketing budget, would you bow to pressure from those in one group if it risked alienating another?

For example, would you stop advertising in gay and lesbian publications if threatened with a boycott of your brand by a large, conservative anti-gay group?

        Yes                      No

Read our story (above) on the dilemma the Ford Motor Company faced in the US last December and fill in the form below.

We will judge the top three, award each a bottle of Pewsey Vale Rhine Riesling and publish your rationale (all personal details will remain confidential).

Your Name

Your Email Address

Would you stop advertising in gay and lesbian publications if threatened with a boycott of your brand by a large, conservative anti-gay group? YES   NO

List the impacts (good & bad) you think this issue would have had on Ford

Back up your answer with no more than 200 words on how you think Ford should have handled their issue

I am over 18 years of age