Ford is keeping the Goodwood Festival of Speed colorful in celebration of Pride Month. It’s bringing a truck called the Very Gay Ranger Raptor to the event.
The rainbow-colored truck, which also has gold accents, will do more than just catch eyes and a take a run up the hill — it will be used to help get attention towards what Ford is calling “Tough Talks”.
These talks will involve gay Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas, racing driver Abbie Eaton, comedian Catherine Bohart, and Lord March. The conversation will be about how the automotive industry can be more inclusive for the LGBTQIA+ community.
This isn’t the first Very Gay Ranger to exist — the original truck was a project of Ford of Germany, built for the Christopher Street Day celebration in Cologne. It came about as a response to a social-media user calling the company’s Performance Blue paint color “very gay.” So, in a bit of trolling the homophobes, Ford turned a negative into a positive.
Not only that, but those who have a nose for the history of Ford in Europe, the Very Gay Ranger was also a homage to a rainbow-colored Ford Ka pickup conversion that was built in 1998, also for the Christopher Street Day celebration.
It’s obviously Pride Month here in the States, too, and Ford has celebrated by building a Ford Bronco Wildtrak with the same paint scheme. It debuted at the Memphis Pride Fest this month.
[Images and video: Ford]
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Just making my popcorn so I’m ready for the comments ..
Yup! This oughta be interesting!
Considering the Juneteenth thread….
Very sad
What’s sad about it?
Ford promoting a stereotype.
“Ford promoting a stereotype.”
I’d say that’s the second worst thing next to the sheer virtue signaling.
Nothing shows “we support everyone” like a rainbow Ranger that they roll out in June. Of course they won’t change to a rainbow ford logo in the Middle East.
You might just be reinforcing one.
But whatever, I think it looks good and you’re feeling sad about it. C’est la vie.
@ Lynchenstein “What’s sad about it?” The constant pandering to this small majority of people.
Sad Ranger Raptor is not sold in North America.
Sad Ranger Raptor diesel is not sold in North America.
Looks like a.standard decal package from a compact truck in the 80s
Yeah and I kinda dig it. My fave may be the Toyota medium blue w/ the orange, yellow stripes with white on top.
Didn’t Ford do some kind of sunset paint job with Pintos in the 70s. It was totally groovy.
Yeah…on the “touring wagon” if I recall. It was the panel style one but had a circle window in the back like those 70s vans that had things like “The Stabbin’ Cabin” painted on the side.
CRUISING wagon!
With the porthole!
Maybe Ford is thinking this will be just the thing for all the gay pride events, although don’t think it will be well received by the Ford truck owners in the deep red states. I can just picture an event with each party driving their respective Ford trucks. It should be interesting, I’ll break out the chips and beer and see what happens.
The only reason “Ford truck owners in the deep red states” would even be aware of this is if Tucker or someone decides to get mad about it on Fox.
@ dal20402 A leftist always has to bring up the to favorite boogeymen. Fox and Tucker. To funny.
they love to talk down to their “viewers”
It would be hard to talk up to them…
Agree and Tucker might if he runs out of material. Not my cup of tea but neither is Tucker and the talking heads at Fox. I don’t need to be told what to think.
Dal…
Have you ever: EVER actually watched Tucker? Try it 3 times. First 15 minutes?
I ll give your YOUR favorite charity $100 if you can point out factual errors.
He makes important observations and offers VALID opinions.
I truly dont understand leftie loons at all. But then again, lawyers are pervos, demon cats and pot users at very high %.
“ Have you ever: EVER actually watched Tucker?”
Of course not. He learns about what Tucker says from outlets like Salon and the Washington/Huffington Post.
But he won’t take you up on it. His mind is far too closed for that. He only opens it so he can be told what to think by CNN, PMSNBC, etc.
That being said, there’s a reason Fox has such high ratings and CNN keeps suffering it’s “worst week”…..
Redapple:
“Have you ever: EVER actually watched Rachel Maddow? Try it 3 times. First 15 minutes?
I ll give your YOUR favorite charity $100 if you can point out factual errors.
She makes important observations and offers VALID opinions.
I truly don’t understand righty-tighty loons at all.”
The point I’m making here is everyone runs to the source that tells them what they want to hear. The vast majority of Republicans will ignore what the Jan6 investigation finds, even though the core testimony is given by long time conservatives and people in the inner circle of Trump. If politics are now a Yankee or Redsox thing our country is doomed…facts be damned.
I’ve had the misfortune of watching plenty of Tucker, Hannity, and all the others while staying with my conservative relatives.
Did I accuse him of making factual errors? I’m sure he usually doesn’t.
What I’d accuse him of is of getting mad at a lot of things that don’t warrant it for ratings and money. That’s how all of cable news works (the liberal parts included) but the unique thing about Tucker, even compared with other conservative hosts, is the degree of open outright racism.
“That being said, there’s a reason Fox has such high ratings…”
Lots of folks watched Jerry Springer too.
In court Fox’s lawyers argued (paraphrasing from NPR here) that ‘Carlson’s statements should be accepted based on their entertainment value and that a person of reasonable intelligence should realize that these statements should not be interpreted as fact’.
The actual transcripts of the case are linked below.
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1:2019cv11161/527808/39/
https://www.npr.org/2020/09/29/917747123/you-literally-cant-believe-the-facts-tucker-carlson-tells-you-so-say-fox-s-lawye
Fox is great business. They’ve figured out how to keep people captivated. We just haven’t figured out how to deal with the resulting externalities.
“The point I’m making here is everyone runs to the source that tells them what they want to hear.”
Exactly. Confirmational bias. We don’t seek the truth, we seek affirmation.
That’s why social media is so dangerous. The algorithms they use amplify this bias.
24 hour news channels are not news outlets. They are opinion peddlers feeding the bias of their viewers.
They make billions off of it and we are too gullible to notice.
Gays don’t drive Rangers, they drive Wranglers.
…or, in my kid’s case, an old Saturn. Then again, Dad picked that one out.
Freed,
Since you are a Dad, what are your thoughts on this issue?
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/science/articles/the-insanity-of-mandating-camp-boosters-for-kids
@Greg Hamilton – since you haven’t noticed, TTAC has moved on from faux outrage over masks and vaccines to other wedge issues like racism (Juneteenth) and LGBTQ phobias (Rainbow Raptor).
Kinda like social media and 24 hr. news, it makes them money.
@Lou
My outrage over masking and mandated vaccines was and is genuine. It’s based on companies being made exempt from any liability on hastily developed vaccines (something done under Trump in case someone wants to accuse me of being partisan) and the absolute destruction of world economies stemming from lockdowns. Automakers bullied their employees, suppliers shut their doors, shipping companies went overboard with restrictions, and people stopped working. Two years later, that seems to have been a truly poor decision.
That said, I actually don’t really care all that much about a company painting its truck to pander to people that I hope are smart enough to realize what’s going on. Genuine gay pride is fine. Corporate pride is cringe and ultimately meaningless.
@Matt Posky – my bad. I formally retract the word “faux”.
@Posky: So what expertise or credentials due you have regarding that subject?. There is a reason why people require specific levels of education, training and experience to be considered as ‘experts’ or to practice specified professions.
The overwhelming majority of those with the required expertise advised in favour of government interventions. Immunologists, virologists, infectious disease experts, public health officials, and epidemiologists included.
The death rates among comparable countries demonstrates the validity of their opinions. For example compare the death rates between Canada and the USA. Those nations who did not impose restrictions not only had higher death rates, they also did not experience comparably better economic performance.
Unfortunately possibly due to social media, the USA is experiencing an unsettling period where those without the required education, training or experience actually believe that their ‘personal opinion’ is as valid as expert opinion, scientific research and/or statistics.
I thought the stereotype was Subaru’s?
Lesbians drive Subarus–AKA “Lesbarus.”
I thought the stereotype was Subaru’s?
@Lou–Subaru and Wrangler are popular among gays but pickups not so much. I parked my pickup next to some gay women at Sam’s Club and they stared at me and moved their Subaru. I guess they thought I was a redneck because I drove a pickup but an old S-10 in perfect shape is not exactly a threatening vehicle. They have their biases as well.
I’m dying of antici………………………………..
…pation for the Frank-N-Furter edition.
Fishnet wrap!
“The conversation will be about how the automotive industry can be more inclusive for the LGBTQIA+ community.”
How about treating them, along with everyone who isn’t in that demographic, better. How about stop the penny pinching with materials and reliability, stop arguing with customers about what’s covered under warranty work and knock it off with all of the distractions and screens.
Last I checked, most of us were born with a couple of arms, legs, hands, feet and an unrelenting desire to have car mfgs cut the nonsense out of buying and servicing one of the more expensive items we’ll ever buy.
Let’s start there. ffs.
Perhaps customers should stop demanding that everything under the sun be covered under warranty.
Didn’t some AMC’s back in the day (Javelin springs to mind) have rainbow patterns in the headliner? Ford is way late lol.
You may be thinking of the Pierre Cardin edition of the Javelin:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/30751209935336623/
I’d drive that
The first openly gay man I met drove a newish VR6 Corrado – and drove the Hell out of it. He introduced me and my friends/bandmates to a few of his gay friends: many of whom had cool cars, too. Orientation isn’t a barrier when cars are involved: cars are cars and are appreciated by ( mostly ) men who are into cars. To wit: My wife hates my CTS-V because the she once hit her head on the open trunk lid. My gay friend loves said car.
I guess they get a B- for effort. Putting rainbow paint on a truck assumes that gay people are just really into rainbows. This screams of a corporation trying too hard while wishing they didn’t have to try at all, and stumbling all over themselves while doing so.
Would this make any gay people buy a Ford instead of something else? Probably not very many. Will it make straight, insecure guys avoid Ford products? The insecure ones, yeah.
Most normal people in 2022 just wouldn’t let this silly attempt at covering all the bases not bother them at all.
@RHD–Agree it is more of Ford pandering to a stereotype. I am not bothered by a rainbow truck and whether a vehicle is painted with rainbow colors or not that will not influence my buying decision.
@RHD
Not just insecure ones. But also people that are just tired of the BS and pandering. People can be LGBTQIA XTZPDQ everyone knows, stop jamming it down people’s throats. ( the way society is today, I’m surprised no one has sued for sexual assault on this issue)
@wolfwagen–Agree I don’t like having LGBTQ crammed down my throat either. I don’t want to discriminate or harm anyone but I do resent TV programs making most of their programs with LGBTQ.
^ This * 1000!
How much wood fits in the back?
LOL
The German brands are so woke and ‘progressive’ that they play along with this fad and displayed their logos in Europe and the Western world in the pride colors. Where they did not do this was in the Middle East and Islamic nations – I wonder why…
This is nothing more than embarrassing virtue signaling and I find it pathetic. If you are going take this route and embarrass yourself, then please also do this in Islamic nations and live with the backlash. Goes to show that for these companies their profits are far more important than the message they supposedly support. Like I said, pure and embarrassing virtue signaling.
I understand the apprehension with targeting Islamic nations. Homosexuality will get you executed by the state there. We’re thankfully not there yet in the “woke” nations. But the GQP keeps trying….
I just find it hypocritical that these companies will show how woke they are in selective markets, and it is purely motivated by profit (and in the case of Western nations, pandering to the woke hysteria).
A further question that needs to be asked is: is this really necessary? I feel that as a business I should stay out of politics and social issues and just keep quiet about my personal views. Currently, since wokeness is so ‘popular’, I feel that companies in the West are exploiting it for their own gain. And perhaps they are afraid of Cancel Culture. Like I said previously, it’s purely for profit and virtue signaling.
Well said, Thomas!
Which is it: should businesses stay out of social issues, or should they do whatever is necessary to maximize profit?
I feel like a lot of conservatives would quickly say “yes” to both, without recognizing that some stances on social issues are broadly popular and taking those stances is likely to increase profit in a variety of ways. That may include both directly higher sales and attraction/retention of key talent.
I think most Americans who like trucks are more interested in when the Ranger Raptor is coming to American and what drive train it will have. Doubt it will have a V-8 but an Ecoboost V-6 will get people’s interest. The Ranger Raptor will sell itself without any pandering.
SOURCE?
“ We’re thankfully not there yet in the “woke” nations. But the GQP keeps trying….”
The lack of evidence supporting that little nugget of misinformation has not gone unnoticed.
after abortion, theyre going to get rid of gay marriage for the same reason- it was bad in the 1400s
You got it all wrong, Mikester…they just don’t want gay folks to have to go through hellish, Bataan Death March-style divorces like us straights do. They’re just trying to protect these poor folks. Get with the program, man!
source?
source?
Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana wants to overturn the Supreme Court Ruling Loving vs Virginia and make interracial marriages illegal. Some of the Republicans are starting to sound more like Gilead in the Hand Maids Tail. Braun later retracted his statement but he put it out there.
Shouldn’t folks with this attitude be over there protesting and laying down their lives for communism instead of offering meaningless snarky complaints?
GQP keeps trying….
English please.
“But the GQP”
Aw did you think of “GQP” all by yourself?
Who exactly is being excluded? Name one person, one group, one “community” that is being excluded. Gay people can apply for and get jobs with automakers, car dealerships, auto parts stores, etc. Gay people can walk into any car dealership they want and purchase any vehicle want. So where is all this exclusion taking place? Gay people are put on a pedestal and the left demands we except without any conditions their lifestyle or be punished with cancellation. Where is the exclusion? I see this as yet another company bowing down to the “woke” gay community to say “look, we are inclusive…please by our product”. It’s incredibly insulting.
Lol. Define “woke”. Progressive? Inclusive? Aware?
“ Where is the exclusion? I see this as yet another company bowing down to the “woke” gay community to say “look, we are inclusive…please by our product”. It’s incredibly insulting”
Extremely well stated.
There is no exclusion. It’s made up out of whole cloth because the libs need people to feel disenfranchised so they can come in and help them. Liberals and democrats have been doing that to black people for decades. Constantly telling them how disadvantaged they are and, if you vote for democrats, we will lift you from that and make your life better. Of course they never do, and never have. Pretty rich from the party of slavery, Jim Crow, and the KKK.
Same with gay people. But that’s so they can be used by liberals. Liberals don’t care about gay rights. Heck Biden is one of the biggest homophobic people around (he’s also incredibly racist). A lot of gays can’t stand pride nor partake it. Most do not understand how prancing down a street wearing only a jockstrap is helpful in any way.
There is no oppression of gays in todays society in the same way there is no systemic racism anymore. But those lies are something the liberals must continue to spread to retain power.
Hmmmm…. No exclusion you say. How about the hundreds of GOP laws enacted in the last 2 years against trans rights? “Don’t say gay” law in Florida? How about gay marriage only being legalized since 2015 and still being threatened to this day? I could go on.
I want to get to the point when Ford an others don’t need to do stuff like this because EVERYONE is treated equally. Period!
Go read the Florida law now and get back to us.
I have read the law. If I had a child in school there, with gay parents, they could not talk about it. Other kids could not ask about it and the teachers could not say anything about it. What does that teach the kids? To be afraid of it? Ashamed of it? How is that parental control for the gay parents? It’s not and it is EXCLUSIONARY and DISCRIMINATION! Again, I long for the time when it does not have to be pointed out! There are all kinds of families besides a mom and dad with their biological kids and people need to get over it.
“Don’t say gay” law in Florida?”
No such law exists. I’m not going to debate fairy tales
Section 3 of HB 1557 says (copied and pasted directly from the bill text on the Florida Legislature’s website):
“Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3.”
In other words, if you’re a K-3 teacher or classroom aide, you better not say gay, on pain of firing or potential personal liability.
I don’t even understand how this is supposed to work. My second-grader has two classmates from gay families (one with two moms, the other with two dads). The kids from straight families didn’t all understand what that meant. The teacher explained it to them (and, in my kid’s telling, did a great job). In 2022 Florida, she couldn’t have done that, and the burden to explain would have all been on the kids themselves.
“Section 3 of HB 1557 says (copied and pasted directly from the bill text on the Florida Legislature’s website):”
Still waiting for the section where it say “don’t say gay”.
Talk about “faux outrage”. Imaging the horror of letting a kindergartner eat dirt vs trying to convince them they are a different gender.
gay marriage is going to go byebye, right after they get their heads out of the uteruses. only big strappin heman rednecks get to marry the wimminz
It’ll be done on a sTaTeZ RiGhTz basis.
But heaven forbid a state does something evil like refusing to hook up parochial schools with tax money…
(And on that note, wait until the Muslims, Wiccans or satanists demand tax money for their schools…then we’ll see how far the whole “religious freedom uber alles” thing goes.)
No exclusion you say. How about the hundreds of GOP laws enacted in the last 2 years against trans rights?
Name one that takes away anyones actual rights.
“Gay people are put on a pedestal and the left demands we except without any conditions their lifestyle or be punished with cancellation.”
Define “except”
OOHHH, you meant “ACCEPT”! Your lack of basic spelling made you contradict your very point. Back to 4th grade with you!
Speaking of “automakers shouldn’t be pandering to buyers’ sexual proclivities…”
youtube.com/watch?v=7k_-YlUoy14
youtube.com/watch?v=t9LRpkWmvhg
Speaking of “automakers shouldn’t be making political statements…”
youtube.com/watch?v=UAATTYMJSmo
youtube.com/watch?v=AMpZ0TGjbWE&t=27s
To all the Francises out there: relax.
I’m gay and I don’t find this insulting or “pandering” at all. They took what someone stupidly considered to be an insult – calling a ford colour “very gay”, and made the point that being gay is not something to be ashamed of, and that using that word as an insult reveals a really backwards attitude. They took that stupid slur and said “fuck you, moron, we will wear that just to show you we are better than you, and to show support for the people you slighted, some of whom are their customers”. It’s awesome.
This term “virtue signalling” gets greatly overused these days by people clinging to their outdated prejudices. It’s a way to discount the genuinely good intentions of people who are on the right side of progressive change, by implying that they can’t possibly actually believe in the cause they seem to support.
It’s just marketing. The only color they see is green. As it should be.
You shouldn’t assume they feel/believe a certain way because they are marketing to you.
The more socially active a company becomes, the less I am interested in their products. I prefer to buy from companies who focus their energy on good products instead of wasting their time and driving up costs with this sort of thing.
Being “socially active” has been very helpful to Subaru. But let’s face it – all of this is really advertising. No different than marketing guns or trucks to “red meat” Americans. If a company thinks an advertising approach will help move the product they are going to do it. Subaru was able to capitalize on the gay dollar while not upsetting “traditional” buyers who also happen to like their product. Just the way Ford can market F150s to big bellied old white men while still selling trucks to others.
OK, but I’d say sponsoring a canned goods drive for a food bank, or collecting winter coats for the poor would be definitely be “socially active” as well.
Is the problem here being “socially active”, or being “socially active” in a way that you don’t like?
Yeah, it depends on the issue. If I know a company is supportive of a local food bank or homeless shelter with their time and money, there’s a strong chance I’ll look for ways to do business with them.
The inverse is true. If a company has taken a political stance, I avoid them.
Regardless of sexual preference, you’re gonna get screwed by the dealer.
Quote of the day! No doubt they will also be out of lube.
Good point dealer and car salespeople are equal opportunity when it comes to getting screwed.
Doesn’t anyone here remember the Dodge ‘Mod Top’ vehicles of the 1960s or the La Femme of the 1950’s. Vehicles in colour schemes and/or options meant to be marketed directly to women.
Both flopped. As will this. Just too condescending.
Engaging in stereotyping such as this is like a horse designed by a committee.
I always thought the “mod top” was marketed toward hippies…
True and if manufacturers market in a condescending way it will fail. People are people and will buy what they want regardless of marketing.
What is there to flop, exactly?
It’s ONE vehicle that Ford has wrapped a promo.
One.
So again, what is there to flop?
They simply reused the color scheme from the “After the Flood” edition Ark? Talk about lazy.
“In court Fox’s lawyers argued (paraphrasing from NPR here) that ‘Carlson’s statements should be accepted based on their entertainment value and that a person of reasonable intelligence should realize that these statements should not be interpreted as fact’.”
I like to know what Fox’s lawyers definition of reasonable intelligence is. Is the sample size just limited to Fox viewers? Cult members believe they are reasonably intelligent.
Cars and trucks are marketed as identity. Some like low key plain wrappers, some like it hot. A Harley edition truck was not for every HD rider type, nor will this flaming example of alternative identity Ranger rig be for the community it is aimed. While certainly not innocuous, a harmless package that is patronizing and heavy handed, but not inconsistent with the times we live.
A Groomer Mobile? Shame on you Detroit.
“Tough Talks”. Corporate “Tough Conversations” all mean the same thing. Shut up and agree with everything they ram down your throat.
I learned today cars can be gay. Next will there be a “Trans truck?”
el camino, ranchero, santa cruz, holden ute…
The most important question that hasn’t been asked….what color interior could possibly match that paint job???