Ad Critique: Peters, Jeremy W. "Still Advertising to Gays, Ford Under Boycott Again."
The New York Times. 15 March 2006.
The American Family Association is a radical Christian group that has spearheaded a number of extreme boycotts against companies and products that do not share in their conservative viewpoints. For example, the American Family Association has previously boycotted Target stores because they did not use the word "Christmas" but instead used the more inclusive term "Holiday." They have also boycotted Proctor & Gamble, a major manufacturer of toiletries and medicinal products, because this company supported the inclusion of gays in an anti-discrimination ordinance in Cincinnati, Ohio. The American Family Association also has a history of boycotting the Ford Motor Company for disagreements on gay issues. Recently, according to the article "Still Advertising to Gays, Ford Under Boycott Again." by Jeremy Peters from the New York Times, this boycott of Ford has recently been re-instated this ban because Ford is continuing to publish advertisements for their cars that are aimed at the gay community. The American Family Association had gained some in the battle with Ford last year, when Ford agreed to pull certain ads for its cars from publications that are specifically aimed at gay readers, however Ford quickly returned to adv
Currently in the European Union, there are strict guidelines in the works for product placement on television shows that would essentially prevent this practice from being done. However, that would mean that America would reap all of the benefits of the advertising revenue generated from this practice, and media companies in the European Union are not pleased with this proposal. Meanwhile in America, the Writers Guild issued a report last November that demanded a code of conduct for producers that would require the disclosure of advertising deals. For example, product placement is often paired with "product integration" where characters on the show will actually discuss the product by name, rather than just having a background appearance, and the Writer's Guild believes that "the line between advertising and content needed to be drawn more firmly," and they will "they will seek increased federal regulation to prevent what they call subliminal, stealth ads." (Carvajal) The American Family Association has a history, as well, of misrepresenting their gains through boycott campaigns. This organization announced that last year Procter & Gamble gave in to American Family Association pressure and pulled commercials from the television shows "Will & Grace" and "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." However, a Procter & Gamble spokesman stated that they did not change anything and had not given in to the organization, and in fact their ads co
Some common words found in the essay are:
Family Association, Guild America, Writer's Guild, Writers Guild, Ford Ford, European Union, York Times, Association Ford, Proctor Gamble, Peters Ford, american family, american family association, family association, product placement, gay publications, publications specifically, volvo ads, european union, advertising gay, writers guild, association history, family association history,
Approximate Word count = 976
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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