Volvo lies

Volvo, a Ford subsidiary, is now sending out a wonderfully reaffirming statement about the company continuing to support America's gay community. To bad, it's pretty much a lie.

A lie is defined as something said with the intent of misinforming. Volvo knows darn well that as part of the secret agreement Ford made with the extremist gay-hating organization, Volvo is changing its ad policy vis-a-vis the gay community.

In addition to Ford now banning Jaguar and Land Rover from advertising to the gay community, in an effort to curry favor with the religious right, it was reported yesterday that Ford has also told Volvo it can no longer run ads in the gay press that are specifically tailored to the gay community. Per the industry publication Wards Auto:

As part of the latest agreement hammered out Nov. 29 [between Ford and the American Family Association], sources confirm Volvo Cars will continue to advertise in the publications but will use generic ads not tailored to the gay community.

So what Volvo is really saying is that because of pressure from bigots it will only run ads in the gay press that are the same ads they run in the straight press - i.e., no more ads tailored to the actual buyers they're trying to reach, and certainly no photos of those shocking, horrifying, disgusting adult gay couples buying their first Volvo.

If you call Volvo reaching a secret deal with a gay-hating extremist group to ban the image of gay couples from their ads "embracing diversity," then I have a few volumes of "The International Jew: The World's Foremost Threat," by Henry Ford, I'd like to sell you.

Statement regarding Volvo Cars of North America Marketing Strategy

Volvo is a brand whose cornerstones are care, conscience and character. We have embraced diversity as one of our key business priorities and we will continue to do so in the future. We will continue to market to GLBT customers in 2006, as we will do with many key customer groups, because we believe it is an effective way of marketing our vehicles.

Oh, and PS. The secret deal you worked out with the gay-haters also says Ford won't be sponsoring any more gay events. Does that apply to Volvo and Ford's other brands too?