For the only Detroit automaker that “didn’t take the money” of the federal auto bailouts, Ford Motor Co. keeps paying a price for its comparative success and self-reliant turnaround.
There’s no help from American taxpayers to help lighten its debt load, giving crosstown rivals comparatively better credit ratings and a financial edge Ford is working diligently to erase all on its own.
There’s no clause barring a strike by hourly workers amid this fall’s national contract talks with the United Auto Workers — a by-product of the taxpayer-financed bailout that General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC retain until 2015.
And there’s no assurance the Dearborn automaker can use the commercially advantageous fact that it didn’t “take the money” proffered by the Obama Treasury Department and use it in TV ads angling to sell cars and trucks. Not if the campaign takes a whack at its Detroit rivals and suggests that Ford no longer supports the Obama administration bailouts it backed in public statements and sworn congressional testimony.
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.
In other words, where presidential politics and automotive marketing collide — clean, green, politically correct vehicles not included — the president wins and the automaker loses because the benefit of the battle isn’t worth the cost of waging it. Continue ….
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Frank Beckmann, a conservative talk radio host on WJR-AM 760 radio in Detroit interviewed Daniel Howes this morning about his column, and was also able to interview “Chris” who recorded the impromptu ad at his local dealership in California.
Chris told Frank that he is disappointed that Ford has decided to pull the ad, and he stands behind what he said, although he is still a fan of Ford and its products. In fact, Chris created a YouTube video for the people who didn’t believe that he is a real person saying what he thought, and not an actor.
In this morning’s radio interview, Chris went on to explain how the ad was done – he wasn’t told in advance of arriving at his dealership that he would be asked to do an ad, there was no script, and no makeup or wardrobe.
He told Frank that he is politically aware, but not politically active, and that he teaches a class at his church called Christianity and the Constitution.
Frank asked him how he would feel if he became another “Joe The Plumber”. Chris went on to explain that he is a Christian, and that he would ask that we pray that anything that happens as a result of the ad, his YouTube, or this interview, will be used to glorify God. He also briefly explained how he and his wife experienced a dramatic conversion while in India for in vitro fertilization treatment. They were walking down a street, and both heard a voice from God – a direct invitation, you could say.
Take the time to listen to the podcast of the interview – you will be glad you did, I promise!
http://www.wjr.com/FlashPlayer/default.asp?SPID=34613&ID=2296065