Conservatives—fresh off a boycott of Bud Light and at the early stages of targeting Miller Lite and Target and Starbucks—found yet another reason to clutch their pearls. Unknown to them, another of their beloved brands—Ford Motor Company—has been "woke" for years and they are not happy.
An advertisement from Ford in June 2022 resurfaced.
In it, two Ford Raptors race across a muddy landscape, taking different paths. One is revealed to be a shade of red.
The other? The other charges gloriously through a puddle and off of a jump, winning the race with a custom pride flag paint job.
At the end, the two trucks join up together in harmony.
You can watch the ad here:
Ford’s Very Gay Raptor Redefines ‘Tough’ for a New Generationwww.youtube.com
It's not a subtle ad, to be sure.
It's driving conservatives ballistic.
\u201cFord: How to destroy 120 years of American car history in one minute. \n\nI\u2019m so sick of woke companies.\u201d— I Meme Therefore I Am \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@I Meme Therefore I Am \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1684376373
\u201c@GrahamAllen_1 Ford lost me. Don't know if it was AM radio removal, this ad, or their HIGHLY EXPENSIVE TO MAINTAIN VEHICLES -- but Ford lost me as a customer. @lindayacc to the rescue ???\u201d— Graham Allen (@Graham Allen) 1684366530
\u201c@GrahamAllen_1 NO!!! Not my Raptor!!! \ud83e\udd2c\u201d— Graham Allen (@Graham Allen) 1684366530
\u201c@ElijahSchaffer Sad, I like Toyota and drive Toyota but now I can\u2019t even promote the only US car maker I actually liked.\u201d— E (@E) 1684382589
Being as no one in the LGBTQ+ community is making anyone buy a Ford, the hysteria is a bit much.
Plus, Ford is a company that sells to, well, anyone.
\u201c@GrahamAllen_1 A lot of members of the LGBTQ+ community have lots of $ to afford vehicles.\n\nThey don't care if you don't drive a Ford. LOL.\u201d— Graham Allen (@Graham Allen) 1684366530
\u201c@TheRealHoarse It's kind of fun watching it slowly dawn on the bigots that these big brands did their market analysis and figured out said bigots are expendable, customer-wise.\u201d— The Hoarse Whisperer (@The Hoarse Whisperer) 1684780393
\u201c@TheRealHoarse It\u2019s almost like companies enjoy receiving money from multiple demographics of people.\u201d— The Hoarse Whisperer (@The Hoarse Whisperer) 1684780393
\u201c@TheRealHoarse These companies have sophisticated market analysts, and guess what? The future is woke. They can afford to lose older buyers while appealing to younger ones. The easily triggered right-wingers will eventually run out of brands to buy \ud83d\ude02.\u201d— The Hoarse Whisperer (@The Hoarse Whisperer) 1684780393
Then people engaged in the time-honored tradition of trying to figure out what car people in the LGBTQ+ community actually drive.
\u201c@Achilles20004 @GrahamAllen_1 They're all driving Subarus though\u201d— Graham Allen (@Graham Allen) 1684366530
\u201c@Achilles20004 @GrahamAllen_1 lol they drive Prius and small cars\u201d— Graham Allen (@Graham Allen) 1684366530
\u201c@Achilles20004 @GrahamAllen_1 They drive Jeeps, not Ford trucks. True story!\u201d— Graham Allen (@Graham Allen) 1684366530
But in all seriousness, this type of outsized outrage seems to be coming at quite a clip these days.
It's almost like they face no real adversity so they have to create their own "oppression."
\u201cAs much as we love to roll our eyes at corporate Pride campaigns, they serve one vital purpose: to remind bigots that they\u2019re out of touch and dwindling in number, that they have zero cultural or market power, and that their political influence will follow. \n\nGood for Ford! \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\u201d— Ari Drennen (@Ari Drennen) 1684716105
It seems unlikely we will see people trashing their $90,000 trucks like we did with people filming themselves pouring out—or shooting—their Bud Lights.
@GavinNewsom/X
