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Ford Boycott Gets Results
The American Family Association won most of the concessions it sought from Ford regarding what it calls the company's pro-gay policies — which shows their boycott may have been more effective than expected.
Two weeks ago, the American Family Association ended its boycott of Ford, which I highlighted in a recent Pajamas Media column. The organization claims to have gotten most of what it wanted.
You may be asking, “What boycott? I didn’t even know one had started.” Don’t feel bad. The Old Media studiously ignored it during its entire two-year run, including its end. Don’t let that lack of attention fool you. AFA’s Ford boycott was a very costly case of corporate stubbornness, and an object lesson to companies that rely exclusively on the Old Media for market feedback.
An earlier boycott call in 2005 was suspended. In November 2005, according to AFA, Ford agreed that it would do the following (paraphrasing the more verbose original at AFA’s now-moribund boycottford.com web site):
- Not renew current promotions involving donations to homosexual groups based on a vehicle purchase.
- Not make corporate donations to homosexual organizations promoting civil unions or same-sex marriage.
- Stop donating to, subsidizing, and promoting activities such as gay pride parades.
- With one exception, cease all advertising at gay media websites and in gay magazines, television, and radio in the U.S.
According to the AFA, the company did not keep the above promises. The boycott therefore began in earnest in March 2006. Given the boycott’s potential for serious damage, especially at a time when Ford’s business fortunes were heading in reverse, I expected the company to do something to rectify the situation quickly. That didn’t happen. Ford vastly underestimated the boycott’s impact. As I noted in late January:
- The AFA’s home page claimed over 778,000 boycott petition signers (over 780,000 signers when it ended).
- The AFA itself claims to have over 3.3 million supporters.
- Boycottford.com listed over 30 supporting organizations.
- It is likely that each boycott supporter, AFA member, and at least some members of the other boycotting organizations influenced three to five others not to buy Ford products.
- That would mean at the boycott’s peak there were between 12-20 million boycott participants — perhaps as many as 10% of all potential vehicle buyers.
I believe that Ford’s sales performance during the 24 months of AFA’s boycott supports my estimate of its reach:
The average two-year monthly sales decline in the table above is 16%. That is a far worse result than occurred at the five other largest companies selling cars in the U.S. No doubt there have been other factors contributing to Ford’s decline, including weaknesses in its product line and efforts to reduce low-margin fleet sales. But given its scope, there can be little doubt that the boycott was an element of the downward spiral. How much did the AFA boycott cost the company? My estimate is a bit less than $1 billion in lost margins (the chart assumes that only 1% of 12 million boycott participants decided not to buy a Ford vehicle during the two years of the boycott; margin estimates and the truck/car breakdown are from this July 2007 Forbes.com article):
Why did the company allow it to go on for so long? False pride and stubbornness certainly played a part. But management hubris at the beginning of a boycott is not unusual. What Ford generally lacked was real-world feedback. (Not that management is totally off the hook; in August 2006, a group of dealers in Texas sent an open letter to the company begging it to do something. The suits in Dearborn paid them no heed.).
Month after awful month, the Old Media pretended that the boycott didn’t exist. The business press never considered that something might be happening other than what they read in Ford’s “the sky is not falling” press releases. Management therefore had little indication from anyone other than AFA itself — which it apparently refused to believe — that real boycott-related damage was occurring.
So what finally triggered the company’s change of heart? The comments at the aforementioned January 28 Pajamas column may have been a factor. In less than 24 hours (before they were turned off), readers posted 461 comments. The large majority of them were from boycott supporters, many of whom quantified how many vehicles they had purchased from other manufacturers. This was, as far as I know, the first time that such visible evidence of widespread boycott support had appeared in a widely read venue. This outpouring, combined with a dash of financial desperation, may have been what at last disabused the company of its long-held notion that the boycott didn’t matter.
The lesson? Companies cannot blithely assume that just because a PC-obsessed Old Media isn’t covering an event or development, it must not be happening or must not be significant. The AFA boycott has cost Ford dearly. If it doesn’t survive as an independent entity — a distinct possibility — we may look back on the boycott as the straw that broke the Blue Oval’s back.
Tom Blumer is a CPA based in Mason, Ohio, outside of Cincinnati. He presents personal finance-related workshops and speeches at companies, and runs BizzyBlog.com.
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34 Comments
1. BizzyBlog » New Pajamas Media Column (’Ford Boycott Gets Results’) Is Up:[...] It’s here. [...]
Mar 27, 2008 - 3:40 am 2. Dadofhomeschoolers:The boycott, and the fact that Fords are junque. I have owned several, because their resale value makes them the bic lighter of cars, buy em’cheap,and use them up and throw them away.
I own one of their vans, the body guys didn’t talk to the engine guys who didn’t talk to the suspension guys. It shouldn’t take three hours and taking the wheels off to change the spark plugs.
They don’t have one vehicle in their lineup I would consider buying new.
dadofhomeschoolers
Mar 27, 2008 - 3:56 am 3. mishu:So when is the boycott of GM or Toyota for essentially doing the same things listed above? Hell, why buy any new car when virtually all automakers are doing the same things?
Mar 27, 2008 - 4:55 am 4. Frank:I completely agree Dadofhomeschoolers that Ford’s lineup awful but, if we want to buy American, GM is almost as bad. Did he ever try changing a battery in GM’s old Lumina? However, the AFA boycott had an effect on me. I don’t buy Toyota because it cow-tows to Jesse Jackson and, if I have a choice, I don’t buy any product where the corporation is involved in domestic politics. We have a system to settle political debates. We don’t need our money helping to finance the Rainbow Coalition’s efforts to register illegal aliens to vote and we don’t need Ford financing the effort of gay activists to wipe out traditional marriage and traditional family structure.
Mar 27, 2008 - 5:25 am 5. Larr:From this article, and the recent one, the one thing I see missing is where any reference that Ford has done anything? Mr Wildmon says we got most of what we asked for…where is the announcement from Ford that prompted such a statement?
Mar 27, 2008 - 6:33 am 6. Genes:The last Ford I had was a Mazda B4000 made by Ford in Trenton. Someone tell me how you “buy American” when foreign cars are made in SC and GA and American cars are made in Canada and Mexico?
Mar 27, 2008 - 6:59 am 7. Roy:I wrote to Ford about six years ago and told them that they were infuriating many ranchers in Idaho and Montana with Ford’s financial support for various social groups. I reminded them that the farming and ranching communities were huge purchasers of Ford Trucks. And. if they did not change course that truck sales would most definitely be adversely affected. I received a reply from Ford that basically said, “We know what we are doing, and do not bother us again.” Well, they did not know what they were doing, and I did not bother them again. I advised my fleet manager not to purchase another Ford.
Mar 27, 2008 - 7:28 am 8. Quality Weenie:So are all the AFA members, who said they would buy a Ford but couldn’t because of the boycott now all of a sudden going to run out and buy a Ford now?
Ya, thought so. Talk the talk but won’t walk the walk.
Mar 27, 2008 - 8:45 am 9. Tristan Phillips:I’m sorry Mr Blumer. You expect us to take your word with no supporting evidence that Ford tanked because of a boycott? Ford sales are down, but Ford has been putting out an inferior product for at least as long.
Ford is junk, has been junk, and it’s been driving people to other companies for years.
Why not compare Ford’s sales to other companies and show us how their sales rose to make up for Ford’s losses? And control for other factors (Economy, buying habits over the course of a year, etc). Or does that not support your conclusion?
If you start with a conclusion, it’s easy to find supporting evidence. Next time try the other way.
Mar 27, 2008 - 9:46 am 10. Wearyman:Quality Weenie:
As an ordinary American who joined in the AFA Boycott, I would have bought a Ford. Had Ford come to it’s senses right away. I JUST RECENTLY decided to lease a Jeep Liberty. I had been looking at the Ford lineup as well, until I learned about the boycott, and decided to join it.
Keep in mind, Ford had TWO YEARS to change it’s ways. TWO YEARS during which quite a few people signed 3 years leases and bought cars on 5 year loans from other car comapnies. So no, you aren’t going to see a turnaround right away, apart from those people who had perhaps wanted to buy a Ford but had been holding back because of the boycott (And those that are just getting ready to buy or lease now).
I talked the talk, and walked the walk. I said I wouldn’t buy a Ford, and I didn’t. Once my 36 month lease is up I will take another look at Fords. But not before then, I have no need of another car until that point. And that’s the most painful part of this for Ford, and why their seeming inability to take the AFA seriously was so painful to watch.
This type of boycott has LONG TERM repercussions on a company. When they sell a product that people will only buy once every 5 years, then any missed sale is missed for half a decade. That’s a very long time for any company to miss out on money.
Hopefully GM and Toyota will be next in line for AFA boycotts. With any luck they will respond more readily than Ford did. If they know what’s good for them, anyway.
Mar 27, 2008 - 11:15 am 11. Ken:“cease all advertising at gay media websites and in gay magazines, television, and radio in the U.S. ”
AFA needs to mind its own buisness. Bigotry like this makes us all look bad.
Mar 27, 2008 - 11:17 am 12. Wearyman:Ken:
It isn’t Bigotry to want companies to remain neutral in the culture wars. It isn’t Bigotry to oppose the funding of radical groups. It isn’t Bigotry to defend the values and ethics that founded this country. It isn’t Bigotry to insist that a company that makes it’s biggest money from Christian, Middle class, Working Americans to not then turn around and slap them in the face by supporting radical Anti-Christian and Homosexual groups.
However, it IS Bigotry to deny (or attempt to deny) people the right to speak their minds and values because of some latent notion of Political Correctness. So the only Bigot here is you, Ken, The Religious Bigot.
Mar 27, 2008 - 12:53 pm 13. Thomas Blumer:Tristan, I probably underestimated the damage.
I showed how probably 12-20 million people were boycott supporters.
I used the low-end of that, 12 million.
I suggested that IF only 1% had bought another vehicle instead of a Ford, the damage would be almost $1 billion. I think it’s probably more.
About 16 million vehicles are sold per year in the US — about 32 million were sold in the 2 years of the boycott.
120,000 lost sales in 2 years is only a 0.375% loss of market share (120,000 divided by 32 million).
Ford’s market share has plunged over 1% (from 17.4% in 2005 to about 16.0% or a bit higher now–let’s split the diff and call it 1.2%. I’d have to check to verify, but I’m pretty sure its sales have fallen faster as a percentage of its 2005 market share than the other Detroit companies facing the same problems.
So AFA’s boycott, to do the damage claimed would have been about 31% of the reason for Ford’s market-share loss (0.375% divided by about 1.2%). There’s a reasonable chance that it’s really half.
As to the money damage, I think if Ford allowed us to dig deep enough, which they never will, we’d find that the company lost a disproportionate share of its truck sales in the South and West than it did in the NE and Midwest, which would be a red flag that the company took a bit hit from boycotters on the vehicles that make the most money, as you can see from the margin chart.
Mar 27, 2008 - 2:44 pm 14. anonymous:“This was, as far as I know, the first time that such visible evidence of widespread boycott support had appeared in a widely read venue.”
You missed the Smith & Wesson boycott in 2000. Short version: Clinton strong armed Smith & Wesson into a deal their dealers and customers didn’t like. Folks took action on the net. Boycott Smith & Wesson was the cry. And we did. Less than a year later Smith & Wesson went into bankruptcy. New owners repudiated the agreement and today Smith & Wesson is a healthy company making products customers want to buy.
Mar 27, 2008 - 6:21 pm 15. Thomas Blumer:anon: I was referring to this particular Ford boycott and not any other.
I only vaguely remember the S&W issue. If you’re right about repudiation, this Wiki entry has serious problems:
Mar 27, 2008 - 7:33 pm 16. Tim:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_%26_Wesson#Agreement_of_2000
There was a similar boycott against Disney. That didn’t work either.
Ford’s on the upswing. Consumer Report says they have the best quality of the US companies….and improving. MY guess is AFA didn’t want egg on their face when Ford’s market improves.
Ford’s problem (specifically Jack Nasser’s) was buying other auto companies (Jag, Aston Martin, Volvo) and ignoring their core products. Their retail line-up was essentially SUVs and Mustangs. Everything else faded away…and so did the customers.
Every other car company (US or foreign) has gay benefits also. wouldn’t it be ironic if this so called AMERICAN Family Association hurt an an AMERICAN company…handing profits to Toyota/Honda at OUR expense?
Mar 27, 2008 - 9:40 pm 17. Anonymous:Wow, never heard of this before. some people are so stupid. ford is a company trying to make money. who are you to tell them who to market to? if i was a business owner, i would try to sell my product to everyone. im sure ford donates to several “straight” charities too. you dont see gay people getting upset. i bet they advertise to black people but you dont see white people getting upset.
the reason most people have never heard of this is because it had no impact on ford. listen, the media loves bashing ford and the domestic automakers, while praising imports. the media would have jumped on this if it was a big deal. fact is, ford has been steadily improving products, while minimizing its losses. yes, ford still has losses every year, but this year they only lost half as much as they did the year before. and during those 2 years, i wonder how many people in the afa bought volvos, lincolns, mercuries, mazdas, land rovers, jaguars, or aston martins. i would be willing to bet that the majority of the people in afa didnt even know ford owned those other car companies, and i would even bet that a percentage of the afa members who actually bought a car in that time frame bought a car from one of those companies and was supporting ford without even knowing it lol!
Mar 27, 2008 - 10:20 pm 18. JS:As far as Jack Nasser goes, yes he ignored product, bought high ticket “premium brands”. What else he did was pander to the minority groups and promote based on quotas and skin color. Not on competency. As a result the best talent got left behind, or left, leadership suffered and then the product suffered even more. Again a case of not focusing on the business, rather focusing on the “external societal goals” of affirmative action, political correctness and selling to niche groups (gays) which in the end, don’t buy product simply because it was advertised in “their” magazine. Isn’t it about time that businesses focus on what their business is and leave the social engineering alone? Seems like whenever a company gets outside their competency, it costs them money. Oh and I’m not anti gay or black, or bigoted. Shouldn’t we promote based on competency, what people can bring to an organization to make it more competitive, to make it stronger?
Mar 28, 2008 - 2:42 am 19. Ken:“However, it IS Bigotry to deny (or attempt to deny) people the right to speak their minds and values because of some latent notion of Political Correctness. So the only Bigot here is you, Ken, The Religious Bigot.”
So, you want to deny a company advertising rights in a magazene that is read by people who might choose to do something you wouldnt in the privacy of their own bedroom? And I’m the bigot?
Mar 28, 2008 - 7:59 am 20. Bob:Asking a company not to fun a gay rights parade is one thing, but restricting advertising is downright silly. While we are at it, why do you feel so “slapped in the face” that people might just have a different sexual preference?
Hard to believe anyone calling Ford “junque” when Chrysler is so bad it nearly toppled the krauts before they dumped it like a rotten potato.
Mar 28, 2008 - 5:57 pm 21. Mr Carman:If you want to fully understand this issue, One must read the great new book – Ford and the American Dream – Founded on Right Decisions by Clifton Lambreth. He does a great job of explaining all the issues facing Ford and the American auto industry. Checkout the website http://www.thefordbook.com
Mar 28, 2008 - 6:59 pm 22. BizzyBlog » The Ford Boycott’s Results Demonstrate the Folly of Corporate Reliance on Old Media:[...] This column was originally posted at Pajamas Media on Thursday under the title “Ford Boycott Gets Results.” [...]
Mar 29, 2008 - 6:46 am 23. vet66:I studiously boycotted Ford because they strayed off the ‘res’ as they attempted to reach niche markets and boutique sales demographics. Nothing wrong with that unless sales folks complain to marketing pukes that being active in the culture wars may sell a few cars to bay area denizens at the expense of ranchers and farmers in the flyover states.
Note to Ford: build a quality vehicle and stay out of politics. If you build a vehicle around oil/fuel filters and/or sparkplugs and then compound the problem by selling the product to a gay pride radical in the city by the sea, then Tony Bennett has a song for you: I Left MY Heart (profits) In San Francisco…
Mar 29, 2008 - 7:11 am 24. RON:I am a Ford dealership employee. I didn’t sign the AFA Boycott but the last Ford I purchased was in early 2005. I am glad that the boycott is over. NOW I can take advantage of the great deals that Ford is offering us employees. There was very good incentives on Super Duty Trucks, I wanted a new 6.4 Super Duty so bad but couldn’t purchase it without guilt in my own mind about the AFA Boycott.
Apr 1, 2008 - 9:33 am 25. Paul:Ford builds GREAT trucks. Nobody else builds a better truck. Now I can purchase one of the best trucks in the world. Its a GREAT feeling.
Thanks Ron
I heard about the boycott a couple years back, and hadn’t heard anything more about it until reading this article just now. However, what I learned in the boycott information about Ford’s determined support of the gay agenda over the interests of ordinary families in the United States was enough for me. And I was a long time Ford supporter and purchaser of new Ford products. No more baby. I traded my F150 on a new Chevy Silverado LTZ a year ago. It’ll be Chevys for me from now on.
I’ve had enough of menacing gays pushing their life style on me, my kids, and my country. Let’s see if Ford can win me back. Ha!
Apr 1, 2008 - 4:56 pm 26. John M:I’m glad that Ford came to there senses. In June of 2007 I traded my
Apr 3, 2008 - 5:06 pm 27. Peter Zip:Ford owned volvo for another car not in any boycott. But last week I
emailed the Pres of Gm because they have taken over were Ford ended.I
also will not go to McDonalds anymore since they support perverts.I also requested a complete list of such companies so our Elders at Church can provide to our 1600 member congregation. We are committed to serving Christ and honoring God.In America the only thing you can do to companies is to keep profit from them by boycotting and telling
everyone you can. These folks you read Romans Chapter one so they will understand who is not going to Heaven.AFR thanks for you good work.
I’d never, ever buy a Ford.They were the first of the Big Three to advertise in Playboy. General Moters refused to do so. Old Henry Ford supported the Soviet Union in the ’20’s by building factories there when there was a world-wide economic-boycott of the new communist government.All that plus the fact that they build JUNK!
Apr 6, 2008 - 1:56 pm 28. Steve:I boycotted Ford and would have thought of buying a Ford product. I am glad the boycott clearly worked, despite the liberal media’s attempt to downplay it. Many Ford purchasers are conservative farmers and ranchers in rural places, so this absolutely affected their sales. There were 75 Ford Presidents in Texas begging Ford to drop their outright support of the gay agenda. It wasn’t the ONLY reason, but to think the AFA boycott had no effect – you are out of your mind.
Aug 14, 2008 - 5:27 am 29. BizzyBlog » Meanwhile, in Detroit …..:[...] deliberately losing about $1 billion over a 2-year period to a profamily group’s boycott that it irresponsibly ignored, while [...]
Oct 4, 2008 - 10:07 am 30. tuptup:I would have considered buying another FORD this year (I currently have a 2000 Ford Ranger). I am very happy with it, but it has high miles. When I looked at Ford’s site (http://www.mycareer.ford.com/ONTHETEAM.ASP?CID=15) and looked at the statement regarding gays/lesbians and Bisexual employees, my stomach turned. Nothing has changed, they are still shoving this crap down their own employees throats. I feel bad for their employees. I, for one, will not be buying a FORD.
Apr 1, 2009 - 8:20 pm 31. Susan:When did hate become a Christian value? People, including a big company, have the right to support any group they choose to. Likewise, everyone has the right to buy from whatever company they choose to. To make such a big deal out of the fact that Ford is supporting gay groups/causes and call for a boycott because of that support is, as was already mentioned, nothing short of bigotry.
My god preaches love, acceptance, and forgiveness. If the ppl who posted here represent “good family” and “good christian” people, it’s no wonder there is so much evil in our world. If you ppl are “good”…I choose to be bad and accept people as they are. A company who is supporting gay groups and causes is supporting love. How can that be wrong? They aren’t supporting murderers or criminals…..
Apr 10, 2009 - 10:51 am 32. BizzyBlog » GM, Chrysler, and Uncle Sam Have Already Failed:[...] a mistaken public assumption that the government was bailing out the entire domestic auto industry. Having recovered from a nearly fatal bout of political correctness of its own a bit more than a year ago, Ford [...]
Jun 7, 2009 - 7:03 am 33. luke 18000:all of yall need something to do
Jun 24, 2009 - 3:54 pm 34. Richard:Yeah, boycotting car companies because they have the audacity to treat gays like people. How awful of them. Snoooze. Another “social conservative” movement that shows how they hate gay people. Yay.
Aug 28, 2009 - 10:13 am