Ford pulls LR/Jag GLBT support due to American Family threat

[Ghoulish Delight]

Alex said it best...

I do feel bad for all the gay people that now have no way of knowing that the Jaguar brand exists.

No one is restricting anyone's rights. The gay community continues to have the same access to advertisments as the rest of us do. Ford has made a perfectly legal (though likely misguided) decission to change their advertising strategy.

Don't get me wrong, I'm disgusted that a small, closed minded group weilds such market-place power. But I don't question their right to do so. And I'm equally disgusted, if not more-so, that Ford felt the need to segregate (and I use that word quite on purpose) gay advertising from mainstreem advertising in the first place.

[wendybeth]

I suppose what I really mean by 'it should be illegal' is just the blatant discrimination directed against the gay community. The military's stupid 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, the fact that churches can deny employment to gay individuals, the lack of civil rights that everyone else enjoys..... This is just another example of how pervasive and accepted it is. If Ford caved in to a threatened boycott regarding advertising to women, I think most people would be outraged. I'd like to think so, anyway.

[Alex]

As I said to a person who PMed me about this, my response would be the same if Ford had cancelled advertising that targeted women, suburban moms, hispanics, blacks, etc.

The problem with making hate speech illegal is that what constitutes hate speech is a very malleable concept and you may not like it when someone else gets to define it.

[innerSpaceman]

Whether the criminal law has been violated is doubtful, but certain civil laws might have been. And lawsuits can certainly be filed whether or not such laws have actually been broken. And lawsuits mean publicity for the actions of Ford and the AFA in concert. And what this situation calls for most, I believe, is publicity - and plenty of it.

Euro suggested a shareholder lawsuit. Does anyone know how to get a contact list of Ford's institutional investors?

Wendy suggested a lawsuit by such publications as The Advocate for economic interference against the AFA and malfeasance against Ford.

These are both good routes for action, I'd say. How would we, the common folk, lobby for such action?

[scaeagles]

I think ISM is having some posting problems.

[innerSpaceman]

Huh, whatever are you talking about?



(iSm, the poster, may be a retard ... but iSm, the moderator, has the power to remove all evidence of it)





I like pancakes.

[Alex]

You mean that you would wait until they started beating women in the parking lot before you respond?

Essentially, yes. I would disagree with them prior to that. But people are allowed to think and say whatever they want, regardless of how ridiculous and that means you get to try and convince other people to see it your way.

If boycotting and threats of boycott should be criminalized (though I think they are rarely effective I don't think they should be illegal) then the bus boycotts that started the modern civil rights movement should have been illegal. Or is the method only illegal if you disagree with the goal?


iSm: All instituional investors are required to file Form 13Fs with the SEC that list their holdings. I'm sure there are tools that would allow you to search 13Fs for Ford. If you look at the annual prospectus from Ford it would also list major shareholders, but that it triggered, I think, by 5% ownership which it is possible no institutional investor reaches (Disney has no major shareholders, for example).

The top 10 institional investors for Ford are:

Brandes Investment Partners
Barclays Bank
Deutsche Bank
State Street Corproration
Vanguard Group
Northern Trust Corporation
Capital Research and Management Company
Goldman Sachs
LSV Asset Management
American Century Invemestment Management

The first on that list is the only one that owns more than 5% of outstanding shares. A more detailed report can be found on Lexis-Nexis using information provided by Vickers Stock Research. Full reports can be had from various companies but are expensive.

[katiesue]

If you go to http://www.edgaronline.com and type in Ford's ticker symbol F you can view all of their SEC filings.

Yahoo Finance also has information on which financial companies do research on Ford.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I agree with Alex...

[wendybeth]

Again, and then I am not going to say it anymore: I don't have a problem with boycotts, other than they are often inneffective and plain stupid. I have a problem with discrimination, and this so-called boycott reeks of it. I could care less if Ford advertises to my demo group, but if some fundie whackjobs were to pressure Ford into specifically not advertising to my demo group based on their objection to my participation in society, then I should have recourse. Same for the publications that depend on the advertising dollars.

Slightly off subject- does anyone know if the AFA pays taxes?