Ford Halts Ads for 2 Brands in Gay Publications

Organizations representing gays and lesbians are upset over a decision by Ford Motor Co. to stop advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in gay publications.

 Although Ford termed it strictly a business decision, the halt in advertising came less than week after the American Family Association, a conservative group based in Tupelo, Miss., formally lifted a boycott of Ford products that it had launched in May over what the association called "Ford's support for the homosexual marriage movement." 



 The Human Rights Campaign, a gay activist group based in Washington, said in a statement Tuesday that, if there was a deal between Ford and the association "we expect Ford to disavow it." It added, "We expect Ford to publicly reaffirm its historic support for our community." 



 The American Family Association suspended but did not cancel the boycott in June after Ford dealers interceded and association and company officials met. Last Tuesday, two Ford executives met again with association officials. 



 The association formally ended the boycott the following day, Nov. 30, saying in a statement, "While we still have a few differences with Ford, we feel that our concerns are being addressed in good faith." 



 An association spokeswoman did not return a call. 



 Ford spokesman Mike Moran said Volvo and Land Rover were streamlining their advertising and noted that Ford's Volvo unit would continue to advertise in gay-oriented publications. The Ford and Lincoln-Mercury divisions never did. 



 "Ford's commitment to diversifying as an employer and corporate citizen remains unchanged," the carmaker said in a statement. "Advertising decisions for all our brands are driven strictly by a business case." 



 Ford is not the only carmaker to advertise vehicles to gays. Spokesman Brad Luna for the Human Rights Campaign said a recent issue of the gay-oriented magazine The Advocate had ads for General Motors' Saab vehicles, DaimlerChrysler's Jeep brand and Volkswagen's Audi vehicles. 



 Luna said Ford, DaimlerChrysler and Toyota have earned top scores in an annual ranking the group does of corporations' performance on gay issues. 



 "That means they're good on all the factors we rate them on," he said, "including advertising in gay publications and being supportive of gay events."