Friday, May 30, 2008

What is the point of this?



Oh for the love of...

Seriously, can someone PLEASE tell me what is the point of this ad? For the benefit of those of you who haven't heard, a little background.

An erstwhile Ford dealership in California has decided to insult 14% of the population recently. If you haven't heard the radio spot or don't want to play the video above this is a transcript of the audio:

"Did you know that there are people in this country who want prayer out of schools, "Under God" out of the Pledge, and "In God We Trust" to be taken off our money?"

"But did you know that 86% of Americans say they believe in God? Since we all know that 86 out of every 100 of us are Christians, who believe in God, we at Kieffe & Sons Ford wonder why we don't tell the other 14% to sit down and shut up. I guess I just offended 14% of the people who are listening to this message. Well, if that is the case then I say that's tough, this is America folks, it's called free speech. None of us at Kieffe & Sons Ford is afraid to speak out. Kieffe & Sons Ford on Sierra Highway in Mojave and Rosamond, if we don't see you today, by the grace of God, we'll be here tomorrow."

Now I ask all of you who ostensibly call yourselves American citizens, theist and non-theist, Atheist, Christian, Muslim or Jew. Black, white, red, yellow, or green. Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Communist, Socialist or independent.

WHAT THE HELL IS THE POINT OF SUCH A MEAN SPIRITED AND DIVISIVE AD?!

You are right about one thing, we do have freedom of speech in this land...and clearly you are partaking in another freedom that so many Americans seem to relish: the freedom to be an ASSHOLE!!!I quite rightly wonder what the response to and effect of this ad might have been if the authors had replaced the implied subject of 'atheist' with Muslim or Jew or maybe African-American or Korean.

In response to the torrent of bad press the dealership has received over this faux pas in judgment:

Rick Kieffe, owner of Kieffe and Sons Ford in Mojave and Rosamond, insisted Wednesday that he does not remember approving the ad (LIAR!), which he said was written by his longtime advertising writer and producer in Oklahoma.

“It’s just something that went by us,” (IS YOUR NOSE GROWING AND/OR ARE YOUR PANTS ON FIRE?) said Kieffe, who does not attend church but considers himself “a Christian spirit.” “We’re obviously sorry that it offends a given segment who identifies themselves as atheist.”

It would be hilarious if it weren't so freakin' sad!

R.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Robert, I would guess that the ad accomplished exactly what the dealer wanted, publicity. In business there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Mr. Kieffe might sell a few more autos to some very devote Christians who otherwise might never had heard of his dealership.

I applaud the guy for coming up with a good gimmick.

Anonymous said...

Robert: The sole purpose of this ad is to get you riled and give you blogging material... :grin:

King Ott said...

I would guess that he offended a lot more than 14% of the local population and that the number of customers he has turned away greatly outnumber the number who he has attracted. After all, the test for a driver's license has a written part as well.

And I made that particular admission some time ago.

S said...

Well that doesnt surprise me at all.
Rosamond is hell, bar none.
Ok maybe Bakersfield is worse...

The kids have grown so much! Amazing.

Good to see you again, and now I must bow to the dodecahedron!

Anonymous said...

I think that companies should all have such honest advertisements. That way I'd be better informed about which companies to avoid.