"YourAdHere" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Ford will again advertise in gay publications
> Ads resume after criticism from gay rights groups
>
> Wednesday, December 14, 2005
>
> http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/14/for....ap/index.html
>
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) -- Advertisements featuring Ford Motor Co.'s eight
> vehicle brands will run in gay publications, the automaker said
> Wednesday, acting after gay rights groups complained when Jaguar and
> Land Rover pulled their spots.
>
> Ford is not ordering those luxury brands to resume their specific ads.
> Rather, the company's ads in the publications will promote all of its
> lines, which also include Ford, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, Volvo and
> Aston Martin.
>
> Last week, Ford cited a need to reduce its marketing costs in
> explaining why it no longer would advertise Jaguar and Land Rover in
> several gay publications.
>
> On Wednesday, Ford wrote the gay rights groups that the luxury brands
> "made a business decision about their media plans and it would be
> inconsistent with the way we manage our business to direct them to do
> otherwise."
>
> Ford pledged to run corporate ads in the publications that will include
> the entire Ford lineup.
>
> "It is my hope that this will remove any ambiguity about Ford's desire
> to advertise to all important audiences and put this particular issue
> to rest," wrote Joe Laymon, Ford's group vice president for corporate
> human resources.
>
> The gay groups had suggested a connection between the withdrawn Jaguar
> and Land Rover ads and pressure from conservative groups. Ford denied a
> connection.
>
> In May the American Family Association announced a boycott of Ford
> vehicles and criticized Ford for making contributions to gay rights
> groups, offering benefits to same-sex partners and recruiting gay
> employees. The organization called off the boycott late last month.
>
> Several gay rights groups said the move created the perception that
> Ford had struck a deal with the AFA to reduce its advertising in gay
> publications. Gay leaders met with Ford on Monday and asked that the
> automaker reinstitute the advertising and distance itself from the
> Mississippi-based AFA.
>
> Ford's Laymon said the ads' "content will be appropriate and effective
> in connecting with the intended audience."
>
> The move was hailed by gay organizations. Neil Giuliano of the Gay &
> Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation credited the company with listening
> to its concerns and making "a clear statement of nondiscrimination and
> inclusion."
>
> "Fairness and equality wins out in corporate America," said Joe
> Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign.
>
> A message left Wednesday with the family association was not
> immediately returned.
>
> Ford's chairman and chief executive, Bill Ford, said Monday that the
> automaker values "all people -- regardless of their race, religion,
> gender, sexual orientation and cultural or physical differences."
>
> Ford has been lauded for offering an inclusive work environment for
> gays and lesbians. Annual studies by the Human Rights Campaign in 2004
> and 2005 gave Ford a perfect score on corporate policies and practices
> toward the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.
>
> "The statement released today is representative of the Ford Motor Co.
> that we've known and respected for years, not the company that was
> alleged to exist over the last two weeks," said Matt Foreman, executive
> director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
>
> Ford, General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG introduced same-sex
> domestic partner benefits in 2000.
>

I saw a marketing survey that most younger gays drive VWs, and then move
onto Lexuses as they get older.

So Ford shouldn't worry too much.