Ford Pulls Super Bowl Ad...
2/3/05, 12:19 PM
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Source : http://www.nbc5i.com/automotive/4158770/detail.html
Ford Pulls Super Bowl Ad After Sex Abuse Victims Complain
POSTED: 7:00 am EST February 3, 2005
NEW YORK -- Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday yanked a planned Super Bowl advertisement that depicts a clergyman tempted by a new pickup truck after some victims of clergy sex abuse complained it made light of their trauma.
The company wants to keep the focus on its new truck model rather than any controversy, said Sara Tatchio, spokeswoman for Ford's Lincoln division.
The ad shows a set of car keys placed on a collection plate. The clergyman finds a new Lincoln Mark LT truck in the parking lot, and lovingly caresses the exterior.
The car's owner then enters the picture, with his little girl poking her head from behind him - the implication being she had dropped the keys in the plate. The clergyman hands over the keys, then is depicted adding the letters L-T to a message board advertisting an upcoming sermon, to spell lust.
The Chicago-based Survivors Networks of those Abused by Priests believed the little girl's presence in the ad with the clergyman and word "lust" had sexual overtones and that Lincoln was playing off the news of religious sex scandals to sell cars.
The survivors' group urged Ford to pull the ad and, within hours of their complaint, the company obliged.
"We're grateful for their prompt response," said Barbara Blaine, SNAP's president. "It shows their compassion and I think will spare lots of people a great deal of pain."
Tatchio said Lincoln had conducted consumer testing of the ad and had no trouble. The company also made certain the clergyman depicted could not be confused for a Catholic priest.
Before Ford made the decision not to run the ad, Tatchio suggested that because of their experiences, the critics were seeing things in the ad that weren't there.
"While we think it was a very unfortunate misunderstanding and were frankly surprised by the reaction of this one group, in the end" Ford decided it was more important to keep the focus on the truck, she said.
Lincoln hasn't decided whether the ad will run elsewhere. It wasn't cheap to produce: the company hired "The Cell" director Tarsem Singh to make the ad. Singer Cassandra Wilson and well-known producer Don Was recorded a version of the Billie Holiday song "Guilty" specifically for the background music.
It's also unclear whether Ford will use the space it reserved on the Super Bowl telecast for another ad, or seek a refund. Fox has been charging $2.4 million for 30-second ads on Sunday's Super Bowl telecast.
The ad was to launch an entire advertising campaign for the Mark LT, which will be available in Lincoln showrooms later this month.
Advertisers Playing It Safe
Some big advertisers are changing their play book for this year's Super Bowl ads.
Don't expect to see the Budweiser horse passing gas or the accidental bikini wax that aired last year. Instead, some big companies are going with more family-friendly spots.
Pizza Hut centers its ad around the Muppets, with nothing more controversial than Miss Piggy's squealing.
Career-builder.com is using a classic gimmick: monkeys wearing business suits. But Emerald Nuts may be squeezing in the most family images. Its ad shows a father misleading his young daughter and then being chastised by a unicorn, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
Of course some football traditions don't change, like the line of first-string celebrities in Super Bowl ads. This year, P. Diddy steps up in a Pepsi ad. The music mogul's car breaks down and a Diet Pepsi delivery truck gives him a lift. Soon, the trucks are a must-have piece of bling across the country.
POSTED: 7:00 am EST February 3, 2005
NEW YORK -- Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday yanked a planned Super Bowl advertisement that depicts a clergyman tempted by a new pickup truck after some victims of clergy sex abuse complained it made light of their trauma.
The company wants to keep the focus on its new truck model rather than any controversy, said Sara Tatchio, spokeswoman for Ford's Lincoln division.
The ad shows a set of car keys placed on a collection plate. The clergyman finds a new Lincoln Mark LT truck in the parking lot, and lovingly caresses the exterior.
The car's owner then enters the picture, with his little girl poking her head from behind him - the implication being she had dropped the keys in the plate. The clergyman hands over the keys, then is depicted adding the letters L-T to a message board advertisting an upcoming sermon, to spell lust.
The Chicago-based Survivors Networks of those Abused by Priests believed the little girl's presence in the ad with the clergyman and word "lust" had sexual overtones and that Lincoln was playing off the news of religious sex scandals to sell cars.
The survivors' group urged Ford to pull the ad and, within hours of their complaint, the company obliged.
"We're grateful for their prompt response," said Barbara Blaine, SNAP's president. "It shows their compassion and I think will spare lots of people a great deal of pain."
Tatchio said Lincoln had conducted consumer testing of the ad and had no trouble. The company also made certain the clergyman depicted could not be confused for a Catholic priest.
Before Ford made the decision not to run the ad, Tatchio suggested that because of their experiences, the critics were seeing things in the ad that weren't there.
"While we think it was a very unfortunate misunderstanding and were frankly surprised by the reaction of this one group, in the end" Ford decided it was more important to keep the focus on the truck, she said.
Lincoln hasn't decided whether the ad will run elsewhere. It wasn't cheap to produce: the company hired "The Cell" director Tarsem Singh to make the ad. Singer Cassandra Wilson and well-known producer Don Was recorded a version of the Billie Holiday song "Guilty" specifically for the background music.
It's also unclear whether Ford will use the space it reserved on the Super Bowl telecast for another ad, or seek a refund. Fox has been charging $2.4 million for 30-second ads on Sunday's Super Bowl telecast.
The ad was to launch an entire advertising campaign for the Mark LT, which will be available in Lincoln showrooms later this month.
Advertisers Playing It Safe
Some big advertisers are changing their play book for this year's Super Bowl ads.
Don't expect to see the Budweiser horse passing gas or the accidental bikini wax that aired last year. Instead, some big companies are going with more family-friendly spots.
Pizza Hut centers its ad around the Muppets, with nothing more controversial than Miss Piggy's squealing.
Career-builder.com is using a classic gimmick: monkeys wearing business suits. But Emerald Nuts may be squeezing in the most family images. Its ad shows a father misleading his young daughter and then being chastised by a unicorn, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
Of course some football traditions don't change, like the line of first-string celebrities in Super Bowl ads. This year, P. Diddy steps up in a Pepsi ad. The music mogul's car breaks down and a Diet Pepsi delivery truck gives him a lift. Soon, the trucks are a must-have piece of bling across the country.
2/5/05, 05:03 PM
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My C/T still sucks!
My C/T still sucks!
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GOOD God...... 
I have that commercial and its frigging funny- those people need to get the sticks out of their hineys.......Has NOT A BLASTED THING to do with what they are harpin about!!
I have that commercial and its frigging funny- those people need to get the sticks out of their hineys.......Has NOT A BLASTED THING to do with what they are harpin about!!
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