December 09, 2005

Who can read this and conclude Ford hates gays and must be boycotted? Americablog. As fruity as Americablog's conspiratorial conclusions are regarding Ford's business decisions, so too will be the results of their inane boycott this time next year.

''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 has not advertised its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands in those publications.

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. 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.''
[Ford to end some ads in gay publications - Miami Herald - 12-07-05]

Could Ford's supposed hatred of gays be a larger factor in advertising cuts in gay publications than it's $2.2 billion loss over the past year? Americablog says, "You bet your black helicopters it does!"

"Ford will assure investors if their next announcement clearly signals that they have cut to a level that will ensure profitability until they can produce products that people are eager to buy,'' Brian Bruce, who helps manage $18 billion in equity, including the automaker's shares, for PanAgora Asset Management in Boston, said in an e-mail.

The company and General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, are struggling to sell cars and trucks in the U.S. as Asian rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp. win record market share. Ford had a third-quarter loss of $284 million, ending a streak of six consecutive profitable quarters, and has lost money in North America for four of the past five quarters.
[Ford, Readying Restructuring, Fires Contract Workers - Bloomberg - 12-09-05]