March 16, 2008

AFA Ends Two-Year Anti-Gay Ford Boycott, Declares Success. Fact Check: AFA Still Full of It.

Jeff Bercovici of Conde Nast explains:

If you’re not a very careful reader, you might think that Ford Motor Co. has agreed to stop marketing its cars to gay consumers, and to generally cease and desist any activities meant to benefit or win favor with gay people.

That’s because the ferociously anti-gay American Family Association, which has been boycotting Ford for two years now, unilaterally declared victory on Monday.

“I have some good news for you!” wrote chairman Donald E. Wildmon in a message to members. “AFA is suspending its two year boycott of Ford Motor Company. The conditions of the original agreement presented in fall 2005 have been met.”

Those conditions, as laid out at the time by AFA, included demands that Ford stop advertising in gay-focused media outlets and stop donating to groups that support gay marriage or gay pride parades. Wildmon’s announcement was covered by dozens of media outlets including BusinessWeek, Brandweek and the Chicago Tribune.

But Ford spokesman Jim Cain insists the automaker had made no such promises. “I can tell you there was not a negotiated settlement to this boycott,” he says, sounding somewhat mystified by AFA’s triumphalism.

Adds Steve Weinstein at The Edge:

Ford, he continued is “committed to treating everyone fairly and with respect” and “will continue to market its products widely to attract as many customers as possible and make charitable contributions to strengthen communities to the extent business conditions allow. Difficult business conditions in recent years have reduced our overall spending across the board.”

In other words, Ford’s decision to cut back on spending in gay media reflects the company’s larger decision to cut back media spending in general. The company, like the rest of the U.S. automobile industry, has been hard hit by imports and the economic slowdown. Ford in particular has been playing musical chairs with upper management and is shaking up its product line in order to dig out of a significant fiscal deficit.

Ad-industry magazine Brandweek, however, estimates that Ford’s spending has remained stable at around $1.6 billion per year for the past three years. If that number doesn’t descend for ’08, it may be an indication that Ford did capitulate — at least tacitly — to Wildmon’s demands. Ford, incidentally, has a 100 percent rating Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Diversity Index and has been in the forefront of gay visibility for employees.

Mike Wilke, the founder and head of the Commercial Closet, told EDGE that this story is confusing on several levels. Wilke does believe that there was communication on some level between Ford and AFA at least toward the beginning of the boycott. “Ford didn’t the have immediate response the AFA wanted,” he said. “Ford then met with the gay community and continued advertising,” although only with generic corporate ads, not for specific brands, which include Range Rover and Jaguar as well as Volvo.

Wilke is sure of one thing: “Historically, there has never been an effective boycott against the gay community.” A case in point is the Southern Baptists, who noisily launched a boycott of the Walt Disney Co. because of a perceived pro-gay corporate stance. The boycott was called off after being widely perceived as a failure.

If Ford did anything wrong, Wilke believes it was agreeing to have any kind of discussion with Wildmon in the first place, which only gave legitimacy to his organization and cause. “It’s a case study in what not to do,” Wilke said, “to engage in conversation by having a meeting with the group back then. It creates a back-and-forth situation.”

In any case, notes Erik Sass:

Some gay-rights activists voiced suspicions that Ford was simply using its financial difficulties as an excuse to drop gay media, finding a face-saving way of meeting the AFA’s demands without appearing to cave. But an examination of the company’s ad spending, and its continuing support of some gay groups, suggests otherwise.

. . .

The company says it still supports organizations that campaign for gay marriage and civil unions, including the Human Rights Campaign — one of the main objects of the AFA’s ire. Volvo, a Ford company, is still listed by the HRC as a corporate donor in its “silver” category.

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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