Posted on 05/31/2008 7:52:40 PM PDT by LibWhacker
Sit down and shut up?
Easier said than done, a Kern car dealer and the Oklahoma writer of the company’s controversial radio ad are finding.
The spots have already finished a three-month run in eastern Kern and the Antelope Valley, but renewed interest prompted even the Ford Motor Co. to weigh in Wednesday.
Kieffe & Sons Ford’s ads suggesting Christians “just tell the other 14 percent to sit down and shut up” had been Internet fodder for months, blog posts indicate.
In recent days the topic suddenly resurfaced, said Tehachapi resident Dave Salyers. Numerous e-mails with the ad attached popped up again seemingly out of the blue.
On Wednesday, Salyers dropped an electronic note to the automaker.
“Is this the image that Ford wishes to present — that it willingly discriminates against nonreligious people in the United States?” Salyers wrote.
He got a reply the same day from Christie — no last name given — in Ford’s customer relationship center.
“Our investigation has determined that the advertising was placed in error,” Christie’s e-mail said. “Corrective actions have been taken to prevent this from happening again.” Ford spokesman Mark Truby confirmed in an e-mail Christie’s response was “legitimate.”
Truby did not immediately respond to questions about what actions had been taken or how the ad was placed in error.
NO OFFENSE
Rick Kieffe, president of Kieffe & Sons Ford, said he didn’t regret the ad but was sorry if it had offended anyone.
“I don’t regret the sentiment at all,” said Kieffe, who bought the 48-year-old dealership from his father in 1974. “It’s what we believe.”
Kieffe & Sons has sites in Mojave and Rosamond.
The dealer’s Web site Thursday bore a statement about the ad that included an apology “to all who were offended.”
Kieffe said he’d been contacted by Ford Motor Co. after the manufacturer heard complaints from numerous “blog-lo-dites.”
The company asked him to post something saying he was sorry if he’d offended anyone, Kieffe said.
When asked whether he’ll use longtime ad man J.W. Horne of Oklahoma for future promos, Kieffe didn’t hesitate.
“Without question,” Kieffe said. “He’s a middle-America person.”
NERVE CENTER
Horne, meanwhile, said it was “very unfortunate some were offended” by the spot.
“Our intentions are good,” Horne said in a phone interview.
But, he added, “the truth is the truth.”
On his blog at jwhorne2.blogspot.com, Horne seemed to relish his moment in the limelight.
“... Isn’t it just too bad that so many people got their feelings hurt over one little ole sixty second radio commercial,” Horne wrote Thursday. “... The backlash from some of those self-styled unbelievers is the point I was making about why some people should be told to sit down and shut up.”
NO HELP
Salyers, the Tehachapi resident, said he was disappointed the controversy was back because reaction from extremists on both sides had made the discussion “not helpful.”
A meeting of free thinkers already scheduled Thursday night in Lancaster would now be “hijacked” by the issue, he said.
Navigating Kern’s conservative culture is hard for those without church ties, he said.
“I would feel uncomfortable saying I was nonreligious in certain areas of Kern County,” Salyers said, “because often they are treated differently.”
The Kieffe & Sons ad has ramped up useless and divisive rhetoric, he said.
“This illustrates the climate that people are afraid of,” he said.
Wrong. Its on the coin.
Um... yes, they do say “In God We Trust” - in much bigger characters than ever before on modern coinage.
Look at the edge.
I think I like Kern County, and I’ve never been near there!
And I think I’d consider buying a car from Kieffe Ford!
i think that Jack Bauer would buy his for from Kieffer Ford !!
If you think the adverts are bad, you should try WORKING at Ford - the place positively reeks of every sort of diversity drivel you could imagine.
If I were to post some of their internal memos, the kinda stuff HR blankets the desktops with, you'd think I was pulling it off The Onion...
Company useta require engineers, etc., to get X number of "diversity credits" annually - credits you could get from activities like "taking part in a 'gay pride' parade" or attending lectures about how bad men are by professional feminazis from the U. of Michigan.
They promote engineers now based on their diversity cred - and Alan Mulally wonders why the products suck!
As we said, they took it off. Placing it on the side is as good as taking it off; and hopefully; they will return it in the near future. I am not holding my breath with a bunch liars, though.
Thanks for this information. I have some that I use as emergency money (can’t get wet, can withstand certain amt of heat from fire, etc.), but Monday they will all be exchanged for Susan B. Anthony coins (or paper money and I will slowly collect the Susans).
I don't see him trying to force anyone to shut up. He is, though, simply exercising his right to suggest that they do.
Your premise is incorrect. It is the minority in this country who seem to think they have the right to shut the majority up, and to an extent they've succeeded, as the controversy in this situation proves.
Yep, it’s time to tell all the christian attackers to sit down and SHUT UP.
Yes, this is how I feel.
I don’t really like the ad. I think too much hostility makes it harder to bring nonbelievers to Christ. But, it’s that guy’s business, and if that’s the ad he thinks will attract customers then it’s up to him in my opinion. He’s just a businessman, not a minister or somebody. He can say his opinion and let customers make their own decisions.
Don’t know if it really matters that much anymore. You have to have an understanding of how this country was founded and that escapes far too may these days.
It may not seem like it matters; but it does. Our enemies want us to stop believing in our country; they want us demoralized. It’s so much easier to get what they want when that happens.
America is worth fighting for.
Agreed and it is still there, just in a different place.
Seriously, to you and all the others that corrected me, thanks.
I remember reading that fact when the new coins were first discussed but forgot.
The inscription will wear our faster, though, being on the edge.
I still won't use them. As I said they are irritating and I cornfuze easily.
Well, I am pleased to see that there is an objective criterion, because it certainly isn't based on how well they can design cars.
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