Ford caves to zealots
In a shameful act of capitulation to the religio-fascist extremists, Ford Motor Co. has announced its Jaguar and Land Rover brands will stop advertising in magazines that are geared towards gay and lesbian people. The automaker denied that it struck a secret deal with the repressive American Family Association, led by Donald Wildmon.
Of course, their decision had nothing to do with the threatened boycott by the group and it's attacks against Ford for “extensive promotion of homosexuality.” Wildmon also spewed that Ford “leads the way” in redefining family to include homosexual marriage, donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to support homosexual groups, sponsoring gay pride parades, and forcing managers to attend diversity training to promote the acceptance of homosexuality. Wildmon now brays on his website " They've heard our concerns. They have responded, we think in a very positive way." What a puke.
The real reason they caved may be more sinister. Chairman Bill Ford has been going to Washington, hat in hand trying to get the taxpayers to bail the automakers out of their self-created business quagmire. The religio-nuts from the Bushie cabal saw an opportunity and former political flacks working for Ford "negotiated" a nice "you scratch my back - I'll scratch yours" agreement, for the company.
Any bets on whether Ford gets the money?
Posted on The Human Stain
posted by James Roberts at
12/06/2005 09:09:00 PM
1 Comments:
Ford has insisted that this is strictly a "business decision." If Ford really just decided to pull the ads because they weren't effective, then why is Donald Wildmon so smugly declaring victory?
This "business decision" is the crux of the problem. We've been making great headway in Corporate America by arguing the "business case" for diversity. Offering domestic partnership benefits doesn't cost much, but attracts highly talented employees, we've argued successfully. Promoting respect and inclusion increases productivity, we attest, because employees who are respected do better work. We don't bother to argue that it's simply the right thing to do.
HRC, which rates companies on a 100-point Corporate Equality Index, explains that corporations are becoming more gay friendly because "fairness is good for business."
But that makes for a dangerous equation. If the AFA folks buy more Fords than we do, we lose. Justice cannot be denied just because it doesn't make money. It may be that Ford has concluded that an Equality Index score of 100 isn't the right mark to aim for. They may decide to go for a sweet spot where the fundamentalists leave them alone; maybe an 82 or a 76.
The bottom line is, indeed, the bottom line. Ford is a corporation that exists to make money. As long as "shareholder value" is the only value that matters in Corporate America, Donald Wildmon will continue to carve notches into his belt.
Read more on my blog.
By
Marty Grimes, at 12/06/2005 9:55 PM
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