In the United States the automobile production market is dominated by what is known as the Big Three; General Motors, Chrysler and the Ford Motor Company. The global financial downturn resulted in the automobile industry crisis of 2009-2010. Chrysler and General Motors received billion dollar government bailouts to avoid bankruptcy. The Ford Company did not accept a government bailout, choosing instead to secure a line of credit, if necessary. This brings us to 2011, when Ford ran an ad depicting a customer explaining before a press conference why he chose to buy a Ford. The customer indicates that he chose Ford over Chrysler and General Motors because Ford did not take the government bailout and used hard work to get out of the financial bind they were in. That is the American way, the customer claims. The commercial was soon pulled by Ford due to what some claim was pressure from the White House, as they were apparently displeased with the bailout references. Ford is denying that they pulled the ad due to political pressure. My questions to you are “Should Ford have pulled the ad?” and “Should government intrude on or suppress the advertisements of a private company?”
Thomas Walsh 01
There is no doubt that Americans have an obsession with automobiles. Cars shaped this country, because of the huge abundance of land available to Americans who just wanted to get up and move. The car was their best mode of independent transportation. Being a car enthusiast myself, the love of the automobile is a passion that is hard to explain. Today in America, outside the big cities, it is nearly impossible to get around without a vehicle of some sort. American car companies for a very long time have used the mass production system of manufacturing and were focused solely on profiting from selling quantity. Foreign car companies caught up and surpassed American car companies due to redesigned and new manufacturing techniques. The government bailed out GM and Chrysler with billions of dollars but Ford managed to stay afloat on its own. Part of their success, I believe, was the fact that Ford sells thousands of fleet vehicles to U.S. agencies throughout the country. For example, Ford practically dominates the police enforcement market with their Crown Victorias from approximately 1999 until today. In my opinion Ford should not have pulled the advertisement. I agree with Jennifer that this commercial was just an honest opinion of a man on why he chose to pick a Ford. In no way should government intrude on a private company’s advertisement campaign and if they did that would be considered denying them the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and freedom of press.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that there should not be government intrusion on a private company's advertisment campaign and that Ford should not have folded if in fact government pressure was applied.
ReplyDeleteI myself enjoy cars and believe what ford did was a great way of standing up and working hard, which is something I thought America was always about. They took time and changed the structure of the company and made new plans to fight their way out of the recession, and they indeed did. I don’t think it was right for ford to pull that ad, because they are showing the world what they have done and should be proud of that. This is America, we were brought up on hard work and being dedicated to become the best we can be. The government shouldn’t intrude on this, if they want to make an advertisement on someone who is basically being honest and loyal to the ford company and what they have done so be it. Like you said, we have every Constitutional right to do so.
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