Ford Pulls Ad Touting Bailout-Free Success, After Calls from White House

[Jroc]

September 27, 2011 12:50 P.M. By Daniel Foster
Here’s Detroit News columnist Daniel Howes:

As part of a campaign featuring “real people” explaining their decision to buy the Blue Oval, a guy named “Chris” says he “wasn’t going to buy another car that was bailed out by our government,” according the text of the ad, launched in early September.

“I was going to buy from a manufacturer that’s standing on their own: win, lose, or draw. That’s what America is about is taking the chance to succeed and understanding when you fail that you gotta’ pick yourself up and go back to work.”

That’s what some of America is about, evidently. Because Ford pulled the ad after individuals inside the White House questioned whether the copy was publicly denigrating the controversial bailout policy CEO Alan Mulally repeatedly supported in the dark days of late 2008, in early ‘09 and again when the ad flap arose. And more.

With President Barack Obama tuning his re-election campaign amid dismal economic conditions and simmering antipathy toward his stimulus spending and associated bailouts, the Ford ad carried the makings of a political liability when Team Obama can least afford yet another one. Can’t have that.

The ad, pulled in response to White House questions (and, presumably, carping from rival GM), threatened to rekindle the negative (if accurate) association just when the president wants credit for their positive results (GM and Chrysler are moving forward, making money and selling vehicles) and to distance himself from any public downside of his decision

Ford Pulls Ad Touting Bailout-Free Success, After Calls from White House - By Daniel Foster - The Corner - National Review Online

 

[Zander]

They still make the best Pick-up trucks in the world.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

You must not the message that people can live without handouts be disseminated.

 

[Provocateur]

I heard the guy in the commercial interviewed by Hannity today on his radio show.


I left scratching my head.

First he tells a sob story about how he lost his home in 2008, his wife lost her job, he had nothing... how he had to downgrade, how he learned about not living on credit....

Then he talks about how he just purchased the new Ford 150 (2011). So, Sean finally gets around to asking him how he went from homeless to having a new car, and the guy stammers and says its a lease, only around 250/month...

I'm scratching my head. Then he throws out that his wife never drives, so having a lease it great...which made me scratch my head some more.


I just thought the interview was interesting because it was unexpected.

The guy in the commercial was just going in to do a survey about how he liked the new car. It wasn't to make a commercial. He didn't know at the time. They called him back several months later to tell him they were going to use it in an ad.

 

[Jroc]

I heard the guy in the commercial interviewed by Hannity today on his radio show.


I left scratching my head.

First he tells a sob story about how he lost his home in 2008, his wife lost her job, he had nothing... how he had to downgrade, how he learned about not living on credit....

Then he talks about how he just purchased the new Ford 150 (2011). So, Sean finally gets around to asking him how he went from homeless to having a new car, and the guy stammers and says its a lease, only around 250/month...

I'm scratching my head. Then he throws out that his wife never drives, so having a lease it great...which made me scratch my head some more.


I just thought the interview was interesting because it was unexpected.

The guy in the commercial was just going in to do a survey about how he liked the new car. It wasn't to make a commercial. He didn't know at the time. They called him back several months later to tell him they were going to use it in an ad.

Doesn't matter who the hell is the whitehouse to compain about a Ford commercial?

 

[Zander]

Obama has extremely thin skin.

 

[Conservative]

They dropped the ad because the White house told them to?

Pussies.

 

[uscitizen]

The govt Buys a lot of Fords.
As Fords biggest single customer, Ford should listen to them. Simple capitalism.

 

[Si modo]

Obama is pretty touchy, and this overly sensitive man is our President?

Yikes.

 

[editec]

Got a new tagline for Ford:​

FreeOfRedistributionDollars​