Ford has No Sense of Humor

Ford Has No Sense of Humor

GM ran an ad during Sunday’s Super Bowl touting the Chevy Silverado pickup truck.

The Silverado ran a Mayan Calendar apocalyptic obstacle course of giant attack robots, meteors, and frogs falling from the sky. The Silverado made it to the end, but the Ford F-150 pickup fell by the wayside, as did the Twinkies. The inference is that the Ford is not as durable as the Chevy.

Ford’s attorney sent a cease and desist letter to GM and NBC on Saturday demanding that the ad not be run because it disparages the Ford pickup.

Obviously GM and NBC ignored the letter and ran the ad. GM claimed the ad was a joke.

The ad was funny and put Ford in its place. Or did it?

Ford F series pickups were the largest selling vehicle in the United States in January, rising to 38,493 trucks, up 7.5% from January 2011, while Silverado sales dropped 4.7% to 26,850 units. Ford is clearly winning the battle in the marketplace.

Maybe Ford was more upset with being associated with Twinkies, which are currently in bankruptcy. Ford never entered bankruptcy, unlike GM. Ford never stiffed its creditors, unlike GM.

Ford suddenly became sanctimonious for it started the ad wars last September. Unlike GM and Chrysler, Ford took no direct bailout from the government. It bragging rights over financial independence resonated with many Americans.

Ford ran an ad last September featuring Chris, a Ford customer, a real person. Chris said:

“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.”
Ford withdrew the ads after 2 weeks, supposedly because of pressure from the White House.

GM, which is still controlled by the federal government, now runs an ad trashing its non-government competitor. That sounds more like Chicago Rules than Detroit.

Ford probably sees no humor in the double standard.