As most of you know, I’m in the advertising business. You should also know that, despite opinions to the contrary, most of the claims made in ads and commercials are accurate, and substantiated. Sure there is always a black sheep that tries to pull a fast one. But for the most part what we say is true.
That’s why it irks me to no end to see the White House get involved in influencing whether a commercial airs or not.
Here’s the scenario. As you may have seen, Ford recently developed a TV campaign where they grab someone off the street who just bought a new Ford. They pull them, and their car, into an impromptu press conference where they are asked questions about what they like about their new car and why they bought it. The conference is filmed and the customer’s answers recorded. And a TV spot is made.
And here’s where this fits. Since the 2008 economic meltdown, the US automakers have rebounded, at least to a degree. GM has re-tooled their cars (don’t the new Chevys look like Honda Accords?) and Chrysler seems to have solidified their niche in the mini-van and big truck category. But Ford may be the most surprising story.
Ford is surprising because they did it without any government funds. If you’ll remember, the White House gave GM and Chrysler big bail out monies, which the two gleefully accepted with open arms and palms. Ford declined, and now they are taking a hit for a commercial that touts their success without the bailout money. Evidently this is wrong, since they decided to pull the ad under White House pressure that the commercial denigrates the bailout decision.
In their commercial that was released about a month ago, Ford brings in a guy named “Chris” and his brand new Ford F-150 truck. Chris is asked “Why is buying American important to you?” He answers, “I wasn’t going to buy another car that was bailed out by our government. I was going to buy from a manufacturer that’s standing on their own, win, lose, or draw. That’s what America is about is taking the chance to succeed and understanding when you fail that you gotta’ pick yourself up and go back to work.”
America may be about taking the chance to succeed, but evidently only if our government approves. Ford decided to pull the ad after the White House staff told Ford that, in the opinion of the White House, the commercial was publicly criticizing the government’s bailout program that GM and Chrysler took advantage of.
Advertising, despite some tenets that many of its claims are unfounded, has always been a business of integrity. Ford is a good example. Their TV spots are effective because they are real, using real people off the street and showing their unsolicited reactions.
I wrote last week about our government paying more attention to their 2012 campaigns than they are to the citizens and the problems we’re facing. This is another example. The only reason that the White House influenced the pulling of this commercial off the air was they felt it would harm their already floundering poll numbers. C’mon. That’s an overreach if I’ve ever seen one.
One of the principles of our society and our democracy is the First Amendment, part of which is “the freedom of speech”. Without that, we’re not much different from anyone else. Maybe our government should take a refresher course on what the First Amendment says.
The First Amendment’s words explain America’s success and unique position in the world. In these dangerous and dicey times, we need to be able to have the media, advertisers, the press, and our youth be able to tell it like it is, every day of the year. Without that, my friends, we have nothing.
Chris, the guy in the commercial, posted his own video in response to the spot getting pulled, and sums it all up: “ Picking winners and losers by the government is clearly not the answer to our economy’s struggles. This message isn’t about politics. It’s about personal responsibility.”
