Ford Restores Bailout Ad To Youtube, Calls Takedown Part Of "Planned Rotation"

by Edward Niedermeyer

October 20th, 2011 8:04 PM

ford restores bailout ad to youtube calls takedown part of planned rotation

As I noted in the comments of this morning’s piece on the Ford Bailout ad controversy, if the White House did contact Ford about the ad and the company did take down the video in response to the pressure, it certainly wouldn’t admit as much. After all, the whole point of caving to White House pressure would be to defuse, not inflame, a political standoff. And sure enough, one hour ago, Ford reposted the video (currently with around 300 views) and shared it on its Facebook account. Ford says the ad “ran as part of a planned rotation and continues to run online,” predictably avoiding any reference to reports of White House concern. And though the low view count proves that Ford took down, then reposted the video, a Youtube message to the uploader of what earlier today was the only remaining version on Youtube reveals that mainstream media news reporters were unable to find other copies of the ad.

The White House has not yet commented on the situation, but hit the jump for more details on Ford’s curious response…

UPDATE: Ford’s Craig Daitch has responded in the comments at Autoblog, saying

Regarding the ad, as you know it contains unscripted comments from a Ford owner and is part of a series featuring customers telling their story and views about Ford and our products. The ad has stopped running as part of its previously planned rotation. We simply don’t make advertising decisions made on pressure – political or otherwise. The ad cycled out of rotation, as we do with all ads in this series, and will continue showcasing our Drive One testimonials, just like those that preceeded it.

Regarding the thread comments on bail out support, we did back emergency government support for our competitors in 2008 and 2009 and continue to support the decisions we made. Had that support not been provided, a number of suppliers could have been negatively affected, which would have had an equally negative impact on our business.

Ford Motor Company stands by its products, its customers, and our marketing. We thank those who stand with us.

Craig Daitch

Digital Communications

Ford Motor Company

Still no word on why the ad disappeared from Youtube today, only to reappear hours later as if nothing had happened. Perhaps, like the phonecall from the White House, these are all simply unconnected coincidences…

#Advertising #Bailout #Ford #Government #PR

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3 of 22 comments

Doctor olds on Sep 28, 2011

Ford ought to focus on advertising their product, rather than resorting to politics. Maybe it is out of desperation as GM grows away from them?

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RRJ on Oct 06, 2011

Read this:http://biggovernment.com/jberlau/2011/10/05/obama-tax-plan-hides-2nd-gm-bailout-as-responsibility-fee/ Beyond belief.

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- Doctor olds on Oct 06, 2011
  
  @PaulVincent- There is no 2nd bailout. GM gets precisely Zero benefit from this "responsibility fee". It is disgusting that Breitbart publishes such BS trying to get at Obama by lying about GM. Like it or not, GM Co. doesn't owe another dime. Return to taxpayers is contingent on sale of Treasury's 500,000 shares. The author presents another distortion claiming that GM-UAW negotiations were a sham, though Ford actually agreed to identical 1% a year labor cost increase, and far more additional UAW jobs than GM. Mentioning the truth would defeat his argument. GM, Chrysler and very nearly Ford were victims of the financial crisis, not the causes. Worst case scenario for ultimate loss of taxpayer money is on the order of $11B, if the stock is sold prematurely. That is about 1.5% of total TARP funds and a whopping $36 per American. Since the top 10% pay 90% of taxes, that really is more like $3-$4 for 90% of Americans.
  
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