More Hellfire From Ford Boycotters

Is the Ford Motor Company the “top pro-homosexual sponsor” on all of network television? That’s what the American Family Association said this week.

But wait. Didn’t the A.F.A. — which began to boycott Ford in 2005 over its longstanding practice of advertising in gay media — declare recently that it had prevailed in its effort to persuade Ford to drop the ads? Yes, it did.

In fact, on March 2 the A.F.A., based in Tupelo, Miss., said that Ford seemed to be dropping its advertising in “homosexual magazines” because it “has felt the impact of the boycott, and this is their way out to save face.”

Soon after, on March 4, the A.F.A. said that its boycott was why Ford had not sponsored the GLAAD Media Awards, which honor mainstream media for positive portrayals of gays. “Homosexual activists are seeing that the days of Ford promoting their agenda are drawing to a close,” the Rev. Donald E. Wildmon, the A.F.A. chairman, said in a written statement at the time.

Never mind that Ford said the boycott had nothing to do with the decision not to sponsor the event (a company spokeswoman told The Detroit News it was a matter of finances), or that Ford didn’t rule out sponsoring it in the future.

This wasn’t the first time the A.F.A. has made somewhat dubious assertions about the effectiveness of its boycott, which the organization claims has 650,000 supporters. For instance, the A.F.A. has attributed Ford’s slumping sales and financial losses to the group’s anti-Ford actions. In January, it released a statement carrying the headline, “A.F.A. says boycott contributed to Ford’s $12.7 billion loss.” Of course, all the Detroit automakers are in financial trouble. General Motors lost $2 billion last year; Chrysler lost $1.5 billion. Neither company is being boycotted by the A.F.A., which seems to have made Ford a particular target of its ire.

This week, in announcing that Ford was the most “pro-homosexual sponsor,” the group said it had determined that the automaker advertised on shows featuring a gay character more than any other network television sponsor. The group’s analysis, which it said took place from Feb. 11 through May 5, looked at eight shows including “The Office” on NBC, “Ugly Betty” on ABC and “The Simpsons” on Fox. Two other automakers were singled out in the analysis as “supportive of the homosexual lifestyle,” Toyota and DaimlerChrysler. Also making the list were Revlon and Quaker Foods.

Meanwhile, Gaywheels.com announced that a G.M. division, Saturn, would be its co-sponsor of Gay Days Orlando from May 29 to June 4. Gay Days Orlando includes visits to Disney attractions in the area; in 2005, the A.F.A. ended a boycott of Disney even though the company had not yielded on issues raised by the group. At the time, Tim Wildmon, the A.F.A. president and son of its founder, said, “We feel after nine years of boycotting Disney we have made our point.”