Choose Your Partner

The decision by the Ford Motor Company to pull its advertising from several gay-oriented publications will have big PR consequences for the already beleaguered automaker. It’s reminiscent of Microsoft’s short-lived support of an anti-gay rights bill that led to MS reversing itself under pressure from employees, the blogosphere, NGOs…

The advertising news comes on the heels of a surprisingly non-resonant announcement that the company will close “more than” eight plants. The corporate spokesperson lamely explained the ad pull: “As they begin planning their marketing for next year,” the spokesman, Mike Moran, said Monday, “they’ve streamlined their budgets.”

Mr. Moran made no mention of the corporate blackmail by the virulently anti-gay, Mississippi-based American Family Association, which reportedly forced this move. Nonetheless, the headlines and victory dance in Tupelo for its win in its ongoing battle against the “homosexual agenda” said it all.

Let’s now see what kind of noise the civil rights and gay movements, employees, and the blogosphere will muster to make Ford second-guess its decision.