The Ford Motor Company blog ads

So the Ford Motor Company (through a public relations firm I assume) is now dumping big bucks into the blogs.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, see the ad currently on the top of Kos and a large number of other blogs (look to the right of this entry).

I spent awhile going over Ford's "Bold Moves" site, a curious public opinion astroturf effort with one of America's largest companies behind it.  Ford's taken out expensive blog ads on sites across the political spectrum for this campaign, so I figured, being a "blog-savvy" person (whatever the fuck that means), I'd check it out.

Read more below the fold.

The site describes itself as follows:

Ford Bold Moves is a video documentary series that takes you inside Ford Motor Company as it attempts one of the largest corporate turnarounds in history. With candid interviews from Ford executives, employees, industry experts and even Ford detractors, Bold Moves approaches each segment from every angle and keeps asking the question: Will Ford succeed?

At present, the site consists of nine original short web-videos on Ford.  Production values are excellent for the videos, but when you've got the backing of a company that probably spends a million dollars a year on toilet paper, it's probably to be expected.

Ford and/or their public relations firm hired a the guy behind "The Rabbi Report" to run the Ford Bold Moves "Community Buzz" section. The guy behind the site is Mark Rabinowitz, who lives in New York City -- while he's doing a great job, maybe it would have made more sense to get someone from the American suburbs who drives constantly to talk about the "bold moves" of Ford.

Back to the videos.  Here's my uber-short summary of the so-far nine-part video series:

"We suck.  We sucked even harder in the 80s and 90s when we designed a bunch of crap that people didn't like.  Oh yea, our cars don't get noteworthy mileage and we're kinda destroying the environment -- sorry 'bout that one.  But wait, we just brought an 83-year-old man back to our company a la Weekend at Bernie's and he's known to every Medicare-eligable American as a builder of super-fast cars, so if we pimp the fuck out of our latest Mustang and make it faster than a Ferrari, everyone will love us again.  Yay!"

Enough cynicism -- I'll reserve final judgement until the rest of the videos become available on the site, but given what I've seen so far, I'm not optomistic.  While it's great Ford Motor Company is financially supporting the blogs, if the big "bold move" of Ford is to sell a small number of expensive super-fast gas guzzlers to wealthy folks who need a new toy, then Ford is in worse shape than I thought.

•  this diary hit the spot

  thanks for the treat

  by Stampy51 on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:29:05 AM PDT

•  Ford is in worse shape than you thought

  The ads will only enrich the ad company. Slick and glossy, they are an ad  campaigner's masterpieces and a marketing disaster.

  by 4Freedom on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:30:19 AM PDT

•  Where are the Electric Cars?

  I'm looking at you, pseudo-green Ford Motors.

  by Dissento on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:32:06 AM PDT

  •  They do make ethanol ones

    No wait, that's Chevrolet.  Not that it matters, since there's not a single ethanol pump in the NE.

    by RequestedUsername on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:35:33 AM PDT

  •  Where are the charging stations?

    Look, people want an electric, sure!  I do.  But... If I can only afford one car, just one, then owning a $30,000 city car plus a car that I need to take trips to Chicago in is just not effective.

    I have to buy a car that does more than one thing well, as do most people.  I might want an electric sity car and a Hemi Cuda, but I have to settle for a Miata and renting a pickup to get stuff from Home Depot with.

    by angrytoyrobot on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:35:34 AM PDT

    •  they could put a charging stations

      at every dealership. They have thousands of them.

      by citizenx on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:37:25 AM PDT

      •  I'm lucky, actually....

        I live what, three or four miles from work on a road that is not an Interstate.  I could deal with an electric car easy.  Heck, I can bike - I could even get a Segway.

        Most people (?) are stupidly suburbized and live 50 miles from work though...

        Is suburbized a word?

        by angrytoyrobot on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:39:34 AM PDT

        •  'Stupid' is not the opposite of 'lucky,' is it?

          And speaking of stupid, "most people" don't live 50 mi from work. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the average commute was 24.3 minutes in 2003.

          by ticket punch on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:03:33 PM PDT

        •  Well

          I live 20 minutes from work.  but that more because I'm not stupid enough to live near my workplace which means living in a floodplain and by a dump.  

          but i think the word might be suburbanized, if it is actually a word.

          -HK

          by HK on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 01:32:07 PM PDT

    •  hey, that's fine

      I was just subtly referencing this recent documentary:  http://www.imdb.com/...

      by Dissento on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:39:28 AM PDT

      •  I was in the engineering group that DESIGNED the

        EV-1.  (Impact)

        by angrytoyrobot on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:40:21 AM PDT

        •  tell us more

          by hypersphere01 on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 01:17:02 PM PDT

  •  no shit

    If there ever was a chance for a company to take the bull by the horns and shake up the auto world this is it. But they won't, they suck just like the rest of them.

    by citizenx on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:36:13 AM PDT

  •  Electric? What about hybrids?

    Bill Ford, jr. made a big deal about what a nature-lover he is, then they made hybrid SUVs and trucks.  You can't even get a hybrid sedan from Ford.  What gives?

    I grew up in Michigan.  It was beaten into my head from almost infancy that the big-three rule and you had to buy domestic to be a patriotic american.  The big three have been spectacularly mismanaged for decades.  I can't work up a lot of sympathy for any of them.  

    I feel sorry for the workers, it's not like they get to design the cars or plan for the future.  

    by bherner on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:40:21 AM PDT

    •  Yes we do...

      "I feel sorry for the workers, it's not like they get to design the cars or plan for the future.  "

      Who do think designs cars, that guy in the office penthouse?  He's lucky if he can change a sparkplug.

      The problem is, we design great cars, and the bean counters rip the guts out of them.

      by angrytoyrobot on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:44:20 AM PDT

      •  I was thinking more about the people working

        the line.  You're right, it's pretty obvious the suits aren't doing their jobs.  I went to school at Michigan Tech, a big engineering school.  Plenty of my classmates work at Ford/GM (not sure about Chrysler).  I don't mean to denigrate them.  Management deserves the scorn.

        by bherner on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:47:44 AM PDT

        •  My dad went to GMI

          and worked for Allison 44 years.

          It sucks what the "suits", same guys that now live in D.C., have done to this country and our businesses.

          Goddess bless what a bunch of fucking, FUCKING losers came into power in the 70s...

          I'm not leaving the Democrats out of that either.  Rethugs are worse, but there have been some incredibly lame-ass Democrats in power too.

          by angrytoyrobot on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:53:35 AM PDT

      •  Bean counters

        we design great cars, and the bean counters rip the guts out of them.

        As someone who knows nothing about this, can you describe what you mean?

        I'd love to buy a reliable American car with good mileage, but there sure aren't many out there.  

        by pat of butter in a sea of grits on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:03:42 PM PDT

        •  one example

          the ev1.  I worked for a little while at the factory that made them in lansing MI. The engineering budget was huge.  The line workers and the engineering staff had almost anything they wanted. People took pride in that car.  It rode great and handled well and had good acceleration.  What happened?  The decision was made at a very high level to kill it.  A lot of people took it personally, like they hadn't done a good job building it or something. Now, although I haven't seen the movie, they're just destroying them in the desert for scrap. Talking to some of the people who worked on them a lot more than I did, it's like having your cat killed.

          BTW, GM cars get a bad rap.  They do get fairly good mileage.  It just can't be compared to hybrid technology.  We do a pretty good job of building them, too.  The problem is that the profit was in big cars and trucks and not in small ones, or at least that's the CW.  The Asians and the Europeans seem to be doing ok selling them, but that's another management decision.

          by dougymi on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:50:07 PM PDT

•  Hey, don't you EVER make fun of Shelby.

  "if the big "bold move" of Ford is to sell a small number of expensive super-fast gas guzzlers to wealthy folks who need a new toy, then Ford is in worse shape than I thought."

  It's a halo car.  You don't sell many, you make them to get people into the showroom to LOOK at the cars, and then your talk them into buying a nice 6cyl 5 speed 'Stang.

  There is nothing wrong with having a 455 HP Hemi Dodge Challenger, or a Shelby Mustang.  You shouldn't be stupid enough to drive it every day, but there is nothing wrong with owning one.  Buy a Honda Civic Hybrid for the Daily Driver, and keep the Hemi for weekends and car shows.

  by angrytoyrobot on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:32:33 AM PDT

  •  if you can afford it

    in my dreams...

    by hypersphere01 on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 01:18:42 PM PDT

•  Dont pick on Ford, please

  Right now they are being boycotted - and hurt - by the christian fundies because they are gay friendly.

  They have been very brave and principled in a position where most US companies would cave in to pressure - there are lots more fundies than gays.

  My next car is a ford even if it is a P.O.S.

  by tiponeill on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:39:26 AM PDT

  •  Surbaru

    Go Subaru -- Just as gay-friendly or moreseo.  And less shitty than Ford.

    by Dissento on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:40:48 AM PDT

    •  Subaru makes decent cars but...

      ...the seats were designed to make proctologists rich.

      by VolvoDrivingLiberal on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:34:51 PM PDT

  •  Get a Mazda, like I did

    or a Jag.  Ford has a major stake in both companies.

    Miatas rock, 'specially if yas a gay boi!

    by angrytoyrobot on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:41:45 AM PDT

    •  or a Volvo. n/t

      by LV Pol Girl on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:48:37 AM PDT

      •  I'm saving up for a Dacia... :-)

        by dougymi on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:52:49 PM PDT

  •  As I recall, Ford caved to the fundies, then

    caved (back) to the big backlash from the original caving.  Not a lot of style points, but at least they landed on the right position.

    by bherner on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:42:22 AM PDT

    •  Yes they did - but they have 'caved back'

      as you say, and they are being slammed really hard by the fundie boycott making fun of their economic plight and a large group of Texas Ford dealers.

      So far they have held firm, and I don't think that most companies would do so.

      by tiponeill on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:53:23 AM PDT

      •  I know the boycot has been called for, but

        is it really making a difference?  I've never owned a pickup, but I know that you are either a Ford guy or a Chevy guy and never the twain shall meet.  Are the Ford truck guys really buying a different brand because of the boycot?

        by bherner on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:01:35 PM PDT

    •  Ford Never Caved...An Insider Perspective

      Ford did not cave to the fundies. One person in the company made a blithering-idiot mistake that violated company policy and created the firestorm. Senior Management was embarrassed and outraged at this singular internal deviation from long-established diversity support policies. Here are excerpts on the issue that I wrote last year in response to an Americablog attack on Howard Dean that reminded me of the Americablog attack on Ford:

      This is somewhat of a repeat of an earlier comment but I believe it needs to be said. Aravosis' rant about Dean reminds me of his attack on Ford a few months ago. His writings, assumptions, and allegations about the Ford/AFA flap were totally off-base, inaccurate, and indicative of lousy research, if any was done at all. I am a recently-retired Ford exec, knew the players involved and know how this terrible  blunder occured. Ford truly DID and DOES have no intention of abandoning it's support for GLBT causes. It all happened because one very ill-informed and out-of-touch person at Ford made an incredibly stupid decision that was totally inconsistent with Company policies and not reflective of management views. Aravosis didn't have a friggin clue about what really happened at Ford, and perhaps that may also be the case with the Microsoft attacks too. Ask yourself,  does a Company with a 100 rating by HRC change it's stripes overnight? No way. Ford is a great place for GLBT persons to work and an industry leader in it's support of diversity.

      I believe Aravosis' attacks on Ford did not play a role in the resolution of the issue either, as his writings would lead one to believe. This highly unfortunate PR fiasco was thankfully resolved by openly gay former Ford Vice Chairman Alan Gilmour working with the leadership of HRC and other GLBT organizations that took a far more sane approach than Americablog.

      I believe Aravosis' rantings potentially hurt the GLBT cause, which I consider to be just as important to our culture as the Civil Rights movement of the 60's. I am sure that many companies who were aware of his attack on Ford may have had second thoughts about support for the GLBT community because people like him turned on Ford so quickly, without knowing the facts, and despite its historically strong support for gay and lesbian employees and GLBT organizations in Michigan and elsewhere.

      by VolvoDrivingLiberal on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:06:50 PM PDT

      •  Interesting

        I never heard this.  I've never been into cars, even as a teenager, but I do tend to read stories about the big three that make the paper since I grew up in Michigan.  If I were still living there, I imagine I would have heard this in the press, but it didn't make it to the Chicago area, at least that I saw.

        by bherner on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:13:50 PM PDT

•  Interestingly enough...

  One of the articles on this site I had seen expressed some of the concerns mentioned above in the comments section.  People were basically telling Ford to quit reliving the glory days of big power and make reliable, resellable and high efficiency vehicles.

  Ford obviously has the technical know-how.  Probably want would be best for them is to send out a genius team on their own, a la Saturn, to make their Manhattan super-car (the efficient, ultra-reliable and serviceable one).  I have no doubt the company has the talent - it is just a matter of the management.

  by OdinsEye2k on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:41:00 AM PDT

  •  just a matter of the management

    Which, unfortunatly, can't find it's ass with both hands and a map.

    by bherner on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:43:26 AM PDT

  •  Not Even That Hard

    They don't even need a Manhattan Project. Ford of Europe is based in Cologne, Germany, and they already sell lots of small, efficient cars in the land of $6 gas. They sell the subcompact Ka which is smaller than a Focus. They sell a new, improved Focus, while we still get the old model. However the Mazda3 and Volvo S40 are based on the same platform as the new Focus. Ford could easily import them if they thought they would sell, but Americans won't buy them. If the subcompacts from Toyota, Honda and Nissan start a trend, maybe Ford will pay attention.

    I won't complain about Ford building halo cars. The idea is to bring prestige to the brand and show what they're capable of building. Mustang V8s and Ford GTs are the only cars moving without a rebate right now. In the case of the limited production GT, they're so collectible nobody will be driving many miles on them anyway. Rich people will always have their toys (and that includes the $100,000 T-Zero electric).

    by dwcal on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:56:22 AM PDT

    •  With all that international basis

      it should be even easier.  One master designer with an international Integrated Product and Process Team could come up with some serious ideas.

      I also have no problem with halo cars ... but there needs to be something for them to put a halo on.

      by OdinsEye2k on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:32:45 PM PDT

    •  Exchange rate issues..

      can oft-times turn the importation of low-profit European small cars into a financially negative proposition

      by VolvoDrivingLiberal on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:39:27 PM PDT

      •  I know

        Importing any non-luxury car from Germany would be prohibitively expensive, but they could take the design and build it in the U.S. or Mexico.

        by dwcal on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:46:25 PM PDT

        •  Yes...it can be done

          and the Ka would be an ideal subject for this. It may be under consideration. Assembly plant and supplier capacity issues/logistics unfortunately preclude it from happening quickly.

          by VolvoDrivingLiberal on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:55:06 PM PDT

•  The right is boycotting Ford

  The American Family Association has its members boycotting Ford because, "Ford continues its support for homosexual groups".

  I'd say, support The Ford Company for standing up for true American values and not kowtowing to the Christian Right.

  by LV Pol Girl on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:47:25 AM PDT

  •  Last Ford I drove was an '82 Escort.

    Next car I buy may well be a Focus or Fusion. (Unless I can keep the current car on the road long enough to look at a smart fortwo.) It's important to buy American, and I have had good value from all of mine.

    For the life of me I don't know why Ford doesn't steal a page from its 1978 playbook. Ford needed an immediate answer to the Rabbit, so it modified a German Ford, the Fiesta, and sold it here as a stopgap until the Escort's launch. Nice car as I recall. I wonder how well today's Fiesta--or for that matter a Ka--would sell here. Or what the modifications would cost. I'm pulling for Ford here.

    by ticket punch on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:54:46 AM PDT

    •  I believe it's important to buy American too

      Both my husband and I drive American -- Dodge and Jeep.

      by LV Pol Girl on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 11:59:19 AM PDT

    •  Smart Car is very urban...

      I lived in Canada for a few years and the Smart Car is sold there.  It is a fun city car, but I'd never drive it on the highway.

      by LV Pol Girl on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:06:32 PM PDT

      •  The brake and the steering wheel

        are the only real defense for ANY car driver on ANY highway, period. Only the nimble survive. Might even argue that the smart is safer than a conventional car because it presents a smaller target!

        I wish the smart were quicker zero to 60, though; that and its 100% foreign content are my two biggest reservations.

        by ticket punch on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:26:18 PM PDT

        •  I've been in more than one situation

          where punching the gas pedal was the only way out of an accident, hitting the brakes would have simply trapped me in front of the vehicle heading towards me from the side, the only way out was straight ahead at maximum power.

          I take acceleration in a vehicle very, very seriously. Not just because it's fun, but for reasons of personal health.

          by alizard on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 02:56:28 PM PDT

  •  I 'boycott' Ford

    cuz I really hated the very high pressure sales tactics I encountered at my local dealer and I felt the car was way over-priced for the quality.   OTOH I Really love y Saturn.  6 years, 100K miles + and zero problemns

    by outofit on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 02:18:20 PM PDT

•  A mechanic co-worker

  of mine made a funny joke.  I drove a 94 Mustang (still do, actually) and it ran fine after 9 years and 120,000.

  My buddy scratched his head and said, "I dunno, you must do something wierd like never change the oil."

  I don't know much about Ford's track record, but that cracked me up.

  by LithiumCola on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:08:46 PM PDT

  •  Fix Or Repair Daily. n/t

    by LV Pol Girl on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:10:11 PM PDT

    •  Found On Road Dead

      was they way I heard it.

      by citizenx on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:15:51 PM PDT

      •  Moral of the story: It takes more to kill a brand

        than snarky nicknames. Whether that brand is Ford or whether it's . . . wait for it . . . "GOP."

        by ticket punch on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:55:11 PM PDT

•  The Lieberman spin is that Daily Kos

  represents the "loony Left" - - but if true, why is Ford Motor buying ads, here.

  by Bill White on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:26:57 PM PDT

  •  It's all about demographics...

    Kos audience: 25-54, well-educated, many professionals...it's Ford's target market. As for the "well-educated" piece of the equation, that's probably why you won't see the ads on Little Green Footballs and others of that ilk. :)

    by VolvoDrivingLiberal on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 01:01:33 PM PDT

    •  Volvo and Ford have a deal, right?

      by Bill White on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 01:25:34 PM PDT

      •  Ford has owned Volvo since 1999. n/t

        by VolvoDrivingLiberal on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 01:37:11 PM PDT

•  Ads are ads.

  Accept them for what they are.  It hardly matters.  I quit drinking a year ago and I don't like looking at beer ads during baseball games.  And my opinion matters just how much?    If Ford wants to put out information, take it for what it's worth.   Investigate it and inform people here, but don't ask to stop the ad.  Just don't watch it if it offends you.  That's what I do with devos ads here in MI.

  by dougymi on Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 12:57:12 PM PDT