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Americans who care about the preservation of traditional family values have been calling on Ford and its other companies to stop contributing to and sponsoring gay marriage campaigns in the U.S.
Ford’s brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Volvo, Jaguar, and Land Rover. That’s a lot of cars on American highways, occupied by people spanning the entire political spectrum. Many Ford owners believe “husband and wife” means a man and a woman in a monogamous relationship. Many other Ford owners feel that America should permit a broader definition of family partnership, allowing same-sex marriages and civil unions. Most would agree that a corporation whose customers and employees represent a diversity of ideologies should steer clear of politics. If you own or plan to own one of their makes of car, consider joining this campaign and consider the consequences of supporting a Ford brand.
We could set a tipping point of 500,000. It is likely there are easily that many Ford brand owners who understand our point. Such an action is large enough to threaten Ford with bankruptcy. But Ford has only invested this money because it feels it may help their market share by a certain amount. They know precisely how much that is, because they have already done very expensive research. We only need to do that much damage to get them to stop. Ford has also failed to take into account that many rational, pro-gay-marriage liberals would agree that this is an inappropriate activity for a car company.
Taking these facts into account, Ford will respond to a mere 50,000 customers of their brands suddenly choosing to spend their money on a different brand the next time they need to purchase a new car. The estimated loss to the company will be around $200 million annually, which is of a sufficient scale to have a decisive impact on their profits, as they face continued market difficulties. When that happens, we will all do it at once. You will receive an e-mail from our organizers reminding you of our common commitment, and you will certainly see it heralded in every news outlet in America. The change to Ford will happen overnight, and you can be certain that it will show up as a prominent black eye on their books and in the international media.
But Ford will not let it come to that if we put significant pressure on them now. Every new member to this campaign will take Ford closer to the brink of significant financial loss and public embarrassment.
Most people agree that those with a position can and should debate the meaning of family in America today. You may well believe that carmakers are not individuals with ideologies, and they should remain neutral in that debate. Other brands respect that dividing line.
Related links:
American Family Association
Ford Faces Renewed Conservative Boycott
CNN Money snapshot on Ford
Ward’s Automotive, a good general-purpose auto industry source
