I dunno- were there any occupants in the Volvo?

Nah, but it was a really ugly green.

OK. I'm takin' off my silly pants and putting on my serious cap now.

This is the sort of situation that really gets me SO upset. Mad would not be the right word. Anyway. I was raised in a very Christian household, church every Sunday - but somewhere along the line, people that I thought were friends turned into wackos. My parents, I love them so, taught me that being a Christian was about love, and the only rule was "Love Thy Neighbor" - we're not perfect, and not in any spot to judge anybody else. These people that are saying they're Christians don't know the first thing about Christ, I hope that somehow THAT message will rise above all these goofballs complaining about other peoples own business.

Just in case anybody's wondering, no, the serious cap is not a tinfoil hat :)

A Christian pastor lived in the house we are renting before we did and we still get some of his mail. The other day we got a tiny yellow pages that only contained listings of Christian businesses. That was creepy. The thought of a company saying, "You're gay! Buy this car!" does sound a bit odd to me too. What does one have to do with the other?

The real point here is that a group objected to marketing to a particular demographic, and threatened to harm the company financially unless the ads were pulled. How much harm they could do isn't the issue, it's the threat, made against a company because of perceived support for the Gay community. Companies market to different demos all the time- that's the nature of marketing. Companies do not cave in to these groups all the time, though- the WDC didn't cave to the Baptist boycott.

Such directories are common. There is a directory for gay-owned business. Another for woman or minority owned. There is an online business to help you make sure you only patronize business with liberal owners. Being in the Bay Area I assume this is why I only see more progressive versions and that in other areas you'll find similar for more religious and politically conservative categories.

I find it odd that I might care about the politics, race, hobbies, etc., of the person who owns the diner down the road (that makes the best chicken salad sandwich I've ever had). But a lot of people do care, and I just file it away with all the other things that most people do without me understanding why.

So do you think Jag will develope a mini-van to give it a less gay image?

No, but most companies aren't on the brink of bankruptcy (though not as close as GM) and perhaps feeling a strong need to protect it's bread and butter product line (F-series trucks) that are mostly consumed in regions where an AFA boycott is most likely to have an affect.

Boycott has been a favored tool of protest, for a variety of reasons, for decades. I don't find the tool any more or less stupid (and I think it stupid in almost all cases) just because I disagree with the purpose.

I found a pic of Ford's next new product Here
Might not be safe for work, though... :evil:

I come from a family with a strong union background, but I think boycotts are silly. Always have. Sometimes they work, but usually they are just a tool for getting a message out, or bolstering some fringe groups political clout.

So what can we do, short of a hypocritical boycott and beyond a harshly-worded email?

I don't know how often corporations capitulate to economic blackmail. Maybe it's a common occurence. I wish I didn't feel so self-serving with my anger when the blackmail affects my minority group. And maybe I'm so angry because I've been such a tool all day, posting in favor of giving Ford the benefit of the doubt.

I've had a chance to do a little research this evening, and I'm convinced that this was NOT a financial decision ... but rather was capitulation to blackmail, and allowing a hate group to dictate corporate policy.

That kind of thing may be commonplace, too. After all, I'm under no illusion that corporate America is any kind of paragon of virtue. But knowing what I do now know about this situation, I am alarmed at the insideousness of it, and wary of the danger this represents.


How do you suppose this could get more publicity? I feel this is not something that should go unchallenged and that Ford must be outted on this one.