Wal-Mart, Ford and the 'Gay' Agenda : Seeking Media Approval

Wal-Mart, Ford and the 'Gay' Agenda : Seeking Media Approval
We have drawn attention in previous articles to an intriguing policy recently adopted by the ailing Ford Motor Company. For some reason, despite its plummeting sales, expensive large-scale lay-offs, management turmoil and tanking stock price, the Company has given high priority to funding and campaigning for same-sex marriage and indulging in general largesse to the so-called 'Gay Community'. The American Family Association (AFA), a powerful Christian watchdog group mounted a campaign to persuade Ford to remain neutral in what is a controversial and very political issue. Ford's response has been to increase its commitment to 'Gay Rights' and it recently started to lean on its staff across the US to use their votes in elections to further the 'Gay Agenda'. Since the AFA had rallied almost a half million Christians to both lobby the Company and refuse to buy Ford vehicles, the Ford policy makes no economic sense.

    Although Bill Ford has recently handed day-to-day leadership of the Company to a new recruit, we have to assume that the stubborn commitment to homosexual activism is his personal decision. As far as I am aware, the Media has ignored the AFA campaign, other than one passing mention of it by Alan Murray in the Wall Street Journal of 26th July 2006 (see our archive article dated July 31, 2006). Ford Motor Company's financial and sales woes are headlines in the Media every other day and the column inches devoted to them must come a close third place to the war in Iraq and Britney Spears' missing panties. One would expect, at least in a world where the Media was not in the propaganda business, that a public company's decision to unnecessarily offend a large group of potential customers would lead to a lot of publicity and some probing. On this website we are not at all surprised that the AFA campaign never gets a mention in the Media reports, for every reporter and Media person is on Bill Ford's side. After all, the words 'American' and 'Family' are dirty words in every gathering of Media Class people and only 'Christian' is dirtier. And so, when Ford's sales losses are discussed in print, readers are treated to every reason except the AFA's campaign. We happen to think that the AFA's members, quite a lot of who would normally buy Ford's pick-up trucks, are making their point with some effect, especially on a company that is in dire straights.

    It is worth digressing here. No doubt Bill Ford will tell his shareholders (if he is challenged) that the homosexual 'community' is an affluent and important part of the consumer market and this is why the company sought out activist homosexual magazines in which to feature (sexually edgy) advertisements. He will surely have a hard time explaining why the traditional Christian market is not worth bothering about.

    I never fall for the oft-put argument that attempts to justify why mainstream product companies pay attention to the small activist homosexual magazines, though I can see why a company that makes vibrators or specializes in homosexual group vacations might do so. For if homosexuals are really the same as the rest of us apart from sexual behavior, and that seems probable, they will see the adverts that the rest of us see in non-homosexual settings. What Ford Motor Company is actually doing is siphoning shareholders money into a 'cause'.

    The decision to circulate employees and enlist their support for and against politicians and State ballot initiatives was a clear indication that Bill Ford cares more about 'Gay' issues than the Company's bottom line or its workers. It was also an inflammatory move at a time when the Company was making massive cutbacks on staffing. That Bill Ford has not had any publicity, let alone bad publicity, is down to the fact that his favored cause is also that of the Media Class. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart has also clashed with the AFA in similar circumstances, though with a very different outcome, at least as things stand.

    Wal-Mart has long been on the receiving end of bad Media publicity. In fact no big company has been the target of so much negative reporting. Wal-Mart has long been regarded as a conservative company by the Media Class since it has not only resisted unionization of its workforce and avoided donating to Leftist causes, but it has prospered doing so. There are regular Union and Democrat attacks on Wal-Mart, and they all receive favorable and maximum media coverage. Recently, Wal-Mart has been experiencing slower growth, though to read the media one would conclude that its plight is worse than Ford's.

    Suddenly, Wal-Mart followed Ford's example and started to advertise in homosexual magazines and to take part in homosexual activist forums (see our archive article dated September 16, 2006). These moves must have stunned many of those who supported the Company both with their custom and political influence. The AFA subsequently circulated their supporters in the Christian Churches and pressed the Company to return to its formerly neutral position on homosexual issues. Many, like this writer, decided not to buy at Wal-Mart in future. Now, Wal-Mart has caved and assured AFA that it will keep out of homosexual activist issues. This is clearly a victory for the AFA and don't expect to read about it anywhere in the mainstream Media.

    The Wall Street Journal featured a very long sympathetic Wal-Mart piece in its Thursday December 7th edition in which reporter Kris Hudson opened thus: 'Over the last year, Lee Scott has appeared on the Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show, talked about pro-environment policies and given speeches that repeatedly state his organization's devotion to "working families". If Scott, the CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., seems like he's running for office, it's no accident. For the last 15 months, the Edelman public-relations firm, led by seasoned political operatives, has been directing a campaign it calls "Candidate Wal-Mart".'

    Later in the article, Hudson tells his readers, 'Leslie Dach, a former adviser to Democrat politicians [Mr Right: including Ted Kennedy and Al Gore!], led the campaign's first year as an Edelman vice chairman. Now Mr. Dach is a Wal-Marter in full: In July, the retailer hired him as an executive vice president for communications and government relations ...'

    'For years,' continues Hudson, 'Wal-Mart did little to promote itself as a positive social force, believing its low prices would speak for themselves ... But as it mushroomed ... it increasingly felt the sting of public criticism and pressure to fight back.'

    Hudson talks of 'public' criticism when he really means Leftist Media Class campaigning, since Wal-Mart has lost no customers/public over the years.

    We can speculate that the longtime Leftist Mr. Dach and his Company have had something to do with Wal-Mart's lurch into anti-conservative social issues, expecting to rescue it from the Media's onslaught of bad publicity. Also, last January Wal-Mart hired Julie Roehm as senior vice-president for sales. She was at one time prominent at Ford Motor Company and has a reputation for inspiring 'edgy' sexy advertising. She soon introduced her 'edginess' into Wal-Mart's advertising and was responsible for selecting Draft FCB as the Company's new ad agency. Draft FCB is also noted for 'edgy' advertisements such as one that depicted a male lion mounting a female lioness with the tag line, 'It's Good to Be on Top'. Last week Ms. Roehm and Draft FCB got their marching orders and are no longer working for Wal-Mart.

    The above drama has caused many column inches in the Media but no reporters mention the climb down to AFA pressure and probably none will. Behind the scenes at Wal-Mart there seems to have been a rethink about the abandonment of its neutrality on moral matters. The Media regards such neutrality as 'conservative' on the basis that those who do not sign up to the Media Class social and moral agenda are the enemy.

    However, before the AFA feels it is making headway in keeping Big Business out of homosexual promotion, we have to note that this week Sears went down the Bill Ford road.

    The Media Class, which includes the advertising industry, will try to seduce or pressure every major company into supporting its agenda and same-sex marriage is high on that agenda.

http://www2.commercialcloset.org/cgi-bin/iowa/portrayals.html?record=841&searchwords=FORD

This remarkable diversity-oriented print ad features Rob, a Global Product Development & Quality Diversity and Worklife Coordinator for Ford, who is also a co-founder of its gay employee group, Ford GLOBE.

While other corporate diversity ads coyly use generic references to diversity through images of people of color, this one uniquely celebrates a gay employee leader.

Positioned in front of a Mustang, the headline text reads, "Rob has changed our policies, our culture, and our future. And he's just getting started."

The ad's body text says, "It started in 1994. Rob and a coworker formed GLOBE (Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual Employees), one of several company-sanctioned employee resource groups. His goal was truly ambitious. Rob wanted to change the culture of one of the world's largest corporations.

"We welcomed his ideas from day one. Today thanks to Rob's efforts and those of numerous other Ford employees, we're creating a truly diverse and harmonious workplace for every member of the Ford family -- whatever their sexual orientation. That's why we now offer health care benefits for same sex domestic partners. Is our work finished? Not at all.

The world of Ford Motor Company is changing. Rob is making sure that it's changing for the better. How will your ideas impact the future of Ford? Visit us online and see for yourself."

The ad ran on the inside back cover of Dec. 2000/Jan. 2001 issue of Diversity Careers in Engineering & Information Technology, a magazine in which Ford Recruiting regularly places ads. The issue included a story called GLBT Engineers are Out, and Doing a Better Job because of It, which quoted two lesbian Ford employees and photo of the Ford Recruiting booth at the national 2000 Lesbian & Gay MBA Conference (Ford was a corporate sponsor).

http://www2.commercialcloset.org/cgi-bin/iowa/portrayals.html?record=1082&searchwords=FORD

A print ad with a winding road carries the text, "Life is full of twists and turns. Care for a partner?" A smiling man is featured, along with a close-up of a grill from a silver Jaguar X-Type. The ad ran in OUT, The Advocate and Metrosource magazines.

In the months after the ad debuted, the brand says it has sold over 20 cars as a direct result of the ad, earning more than the cost of the campaign.

Saab was the first car to ever seek the gay dollar, in 1994, but ad spending in the auto category for the gay market is most dominated by Subaru, which in 1996 initiated a gay-specific campaign and has had a consistent presence in gay media and events ever since. General Motors' Saturn began a campaign for the gay dollar in 1999 using general market ads with no specially created gay message, as did Volkswagen in 2002.

Before embarking on its campaign, Ford hired Witeck-Combs Communications, Washington DC, to create substantial proprietary market research about how the company's brands perform with lesbians and gays. With Harris Interactive, Witeck-Combs surveyed 1,000 in the gay community and 1,000 heterosexuals to compare tastes.

The information was shared with all Ford brand executives, including Jaguar, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Mazda and Land Rover. Acquired by Ford in 1989, Jaguar is its first brand with gay-specific advertising in the U.S. but others may follow. "It enables all the brands to learn from each other," notes Jaguar spokesman Simon Sproule.

Susan Pepper, marketing manager of Global Marketing at Ford, the No.2 automaker, says, "It is highly likely to see at least one or two brands enter the (American) market or increase its activity in 2003." Because Ford brands Volvo and Land Rover already advertise in gay media, it is unclear if they will expand their presence or if domestic brands like Ford, Lincoln or Mercury would seek gay buyers. "It is yet to be determined," Pepper says.

Although the gay community's spending power and interest in luxury goods attracted Jaguar, brand executives decided to begin with the entry-level X-Type, which runs $30,000 and up. "We're democratizing luxury -- this car is about making Jaguar accessible, not just the reward at the end of a successful life," says Sproule.

A number of examples were tested -- some overtly gay, others more subtle -- to determine how "GLBT-specific to make an ad," explains Wes Combs of Witeck-Combs. "There's no need to just use guesswork" -- something companies often do in the gay market.

"The ad chosen was one that scored very high," explains Howard Buford, president of New York agency Prime Access, which created the campaign. "For people who are not gay, life can be very linear: you go to school, graduate, get married, have a baby -- the twists in the road analogy, and the idea of having a partner to go through them with, was very meaningful to our target audience. They tend to be at a life stage that finding a partner is very meaningful to them."

While it is the first gay Jaguar advertising, it is not the brand's first marketing effort. In 1999, Jaguar sponsored the GLAAD Media Awards. "We got to know the consumer through events first, which allowed us to hear from them what turns them on and off," says Sproule. "We're still dipping our toe in the water to see what the best way (to reach the market) is. We need to do more, and we're on a long committed road with this very important market."

Overseas, several Ford brands have already sought gay buyers. Since 2000, Mazda pursued the "pink pound" -- gay buyers in England, while Volvo began appearing in Genre in 2001 and with gay-specific ads in Australia's Blue magazine in 2002, including the declaration that "Volvos are no longer straight." Ford Motor became a sponsor of European Gay Pride in Cologne, Germany, featuring a print ad of a close-up of two men holding hands.

http://www2.commercialcloset.org/cgi-bin/iowa/portrayals.html?record=979&searchwords=FORD

Though Ford hasn't yet begun gay marketing in the U.S., it has had presence in European gay media for a few years. In this Cologne Europride parade guide that recalls a 1999 U.S. ad from Bud Light, Ford's ad features two men holding hands (one with a leather strap), and a headline that reads, "As if we only think about cars."

Next to the hands, it says, "Anhangerkupplung?" which has a double meaning as it refers to the tow bar in the back of a car as well as meaning "hook up" or "hitched."

The English translation: "If we do not always think of cars, then we gladly celebrate in the name of love -- all love. And what better place to do that than Cologne? A city that is above all about diversity, tolerance and a party groove. As a small proof of our love to Cologne, we of course again take part in the Christopher Street Day (Gay Pride). Because in the meantime the event, like the Cologne cathedral, will not disappear. Neither will we."

Ford Motor Co. arrived in Germany in 1925, well before BMW or VW started to think about industrial production.

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