What do you think of this car dealership ad? (Non-Christians should "sit down and shut up").

[BurtWorm]

My feeling: If you're stupid enough to advertise your car dealership this way, go right ahead, you asshole.


http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/456451.html

Text of the radio advertisement

“Did you know that there are people in this country who want prayer out of schools, “Under God” out of the Pledge, and “In God We Trust” to be taken off our money?

“But did you know that 86 percent of Americans say they believe in God? Now, since we all know that 86 out of every 100 of us are Christians who believe in God, we at Kieffe and Sons Ford wonder why we don’t just tell the other 14 percent to sit down and shut up.

"I guess maybe I just offended 14 percent of the people who are listening to this message. Well, if that is the case, then I say that’s tough; this is America, folks — it’s called free speech. And none of us at Kieffe and Sons Ford are afraid to speak up. Kieffe and Sons Ford on Sierra Highway in Mojave and Rosamond: if we don’t see you today, by the grace of God, we’ll be here tomorrow.”

[AlCzervik]

1. this ad tells me that sales must really be in the toilet and they'll say anything

to attract new costumers even though they'll be alienating other possible car buyers.

[TooBigaTent]

7. Sales are in the toilet. We received an offer from our dealer (bought new car two years ago) to

trade our Altima in (EVEN UP AT NO COST!) for a brand new SUV. We said no.

As to this specific ad - it could be a smart business decision as the US becomes even more fragmented and separate. Offensive but successful.

Talk about niche marketing.

[TlalocW]

11. The text is taken from an email that was making the rounds not too long ago

I got it from fundy, evangelical relatives of mine, and I was able to turn it around on them, making the case that primarily only evangelicals take the stances they take and then suggest everyone else sit down and shut up. I then mention that evangelical Christians make up only 7% of the population so they need to sit down and shut up while the remaining 79% of more moderate Christians get things straightened out on religion. In fact, that 79% should put homosexuals ahead of them to listen to just because they make up 10% of America's population.

They stopped emailing after that.

TlalocW

[Johonny]

2. I'd switch radio stations

let alone not buy a crappy Ford

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

3. As pointed out previously, irony abounds in the commercial.

Telling the atheists to "sit down and shut up" and then saying "...this is America, folks — it’s called free speech."

That anti-American maggot can go fornicate himself. With a rusty auger.

[meegbear]

4. If you're going to use the Lord to sell your cars ...

I'm not the one who should be worried about going to Hell.

[MethuenProgressive]

5. Donnie McClurkin buys all his cars there.

I bet.

[angstlessk]

6. I say he will find out there are more athiests out there than he thinks

unlike the person who did ads in spanish and got a lot of flack...but he also got a lot of business, this guy will get no flack, but his business will diminish!

[BurtWorm]

9. Let alone Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists,

and Christians who wouldn't buy a used car from an asshole bigot like this shithead.

[angstlessk]

17. touche to that also!

[blondeatlast]

8. This Christian thinks Mr, Kieffe should shut up. The bastard should go out of business--

and considering his product and his un-savvy biz practices and the economy, I may get my wish.

[magellan]

10. Since they're all about free speech I guess they'd have no problem

...with another car dealer advertising on the radio for Muslim customers?

Yeah right.

[tularetom]

12. I wouldn't buy a piece a shit Ford from that piece a shit dealer

I wouldn't buy one from any other dealer either.

Hey Mr Kieffe & his sons - you suck and your product sucks and if you don't like me sayin that, that's tough, this is America asswipe - it's called free speech.

[wtmusic]

13. Oops! that Oklahoma ad copy doesn't play too well in CA

Keep it in the Belt, please. :eyes:

[Sundoggy]

23. Keep your Oklahoma insults to yourself

Please.

[wtmusic]

25. If you're denying that OK is Southern Baptist Fundie Central

you've got a tough row to hoe. Just sayin'.

[Sundoggy]

27. You know nothing about Oklahoma

I was born and raised there. Just sayin'. Your remarks are inappropriate, ignorant, intolerant, and xenophobic.

I refer you pointedly to the "Do Liberals Hate Rural America" thread.

[yellerpup]

29. From the link...

Kieffe and Sons has contracted the same Oklahoma ad producer for 12 to 15 years, Kieffe said. Most of the ads are humorous but a minority are patriotic, “flag-waving” messages that don’t necessarily push car sales, he said.

Also born & raised in Oklahoma and now been happily gone for 30 years. Try not to be so easily insulted.

[KSinTX]

40. Good lord, now we're rejecting and renouncing ad agencies!

Whenever will this madness end?

[yellerpup]

42. You're right.

A waste of time. We have a country to save and here we are all neener-neener-neener and snippy at each other.

[wtmusic]

30. Get over yourself.

Despite all those pretty adjectives, I have said nothing that is factually inaccurate.

Are you denying that there are more fundies per capita in OK than in CA? Good. I didn't think so. :eyes:

[lolly]

26. Well, sort of California

Bakersfield/Kern County is more like Oklahoma than Los Angeles or San Francisco.

It's a bit of the Deep South in the Pacific West.

[ProgressiveFool]

28. In fact, I think it was heavily settled by people from OK fleeing the Dustbowl

They stayed to work in the oil fields.

Hate the place - my mother lived there for a few years when I was a kid and I had to take a bus up there every couple of weeks.

[A HERETIC I AM]

32. While this dealership may be in Kern County, it is 75 miles from Bakersfield

His primary store is in Rosamond, in the Antelope Valley, 3,000 feet above and 75 miles southeast of Bakersfield.

Kern County is however, VERY Republican.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kern_County,_California

[lolly]

36. OK--similar territory

I grew up in Bakersfield--now I live 50 miles north of Antelope Valley. Almost interviewed for a job there a few weeks ago, before deciding the commute--at night, no less--wasn't worth it (that's 40 miles of absolutely nothing).

I would say that Palmdale/Lancaster are about the size and make-up of Bakersfield a generation ago. And politically, very similar.

[zbdent]

14. ask the stations which run the ad to find any car the dealership sells

which is made 100 percent with parts from only Christian nations ...

[yurbud]

15. If you don't see me today, the Rapture could come before you buy a car...

[yurbud]

16. If you don't see me today, Jesus can't save you any money!

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. Ugh! There is a difference between 86% of people believing in "something out there" and

86% people being conservative evangelical Xians.

I hate, HATE this kind of self-righteous arrogance and assumption!!! :mad: :nuke: :puke: :wtf: :argh: :hurts: :spank: :grr: :banghead: :rant:

*sigh* There just aren't enough emoticans to express how I feel about this.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. I'd rather buy a car from this guy:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1485820924?bctid=1487042273

[Lucy Goosey]

20. What confuses me

is the assumption that all 86% of Americans that believe in god are necessarily Christian. Maybe it's just phrased badly, but as the ad is written doesn't seem to allow that some of those who say that they believe in god *gasp* aren't Christian.

[Sundoggy]

21. "Hey, Folks, did you know..."

that some people in America believe in magical pixies that live in the sky and control everything that happens on Earth? Did you know that, no matter how many thousands of years pass with no evidence whatsoever to support their claims, they actually BELIEVE that a kind of super-powerful Space Alien rules all our lives, demands obedience and worship, and gets violent when He doesn't get it?

It gets better. There are EVIL pixies that live UNDER the ground and are constantly trying to outfox the Good Pixies! I am dead serious. There are actually people who profess to believe this stuff.

Did you know that these people WILLINGLY surrender their powers of mental analysis to these outlandish beliefs, simply because none of them even begin to be compatible with rational thought?

We are surrounded by people who are, quite literally, insane.

[A HERETIC I AM]

22. This moron has been running ads like this for years....

This thread from earlier in the week discussed this guy.


In my post I mentioned I used to live in the Antelope Valley and his ads ran on the only decent Rock & Roll station there. He owns 2 piddly little Ford stores, one in Mojave (Home of Scaled Composites and Spaceship One) and the other in Rosamond, which the main roadway to Edwards AFB runs through. Both towns are north of Palmdale/Lancaster on HWY 14.

He's a dick and deserves no attention at all.

[CaptJasHook]

24. What a Hypochristian. This is why so many people hate Fundamentalists.

[tkmorris]

31. I guess this didn't go over too well

Now their website is running this:

" "For 15 years, Kieffe and Sons Ford has run ad campaigns that focus on current events. We have chosen to do this rather than presenting typical car sales ads. We do this through an agency that develops the material and sends us a package of commercials to review. From this, we select commercials that we distribute to area radio stations. Frequently we emphasize humor and patriotic themes, as we are located adjacent to two military bases. Public response over these 15 years has been hugely positive, often eliciting calls and visits from appreciative individuals. Regrettably, the commercial that has prompted the current objection to religious sentiment ("Under God", "In We Trust") was not closely reviewed by our dealership before it went live. The commercial has been replaced. We apologize to all who were offended. It is Kieffe and Sons' intention to support America and the freedoms that make this country great.

Rick Kieffe, President"


Yeah ok. If you say so.

[jmowreader]

33. Dear Mr. Kieffe...

Fourteen percent of your listeners--well, probably more since this state is just packed with liberals--plan to sit down and shut up...in front of another car salesman, one who doesn't write ads guaranteed to "offend" fourteen percent of his potential customer base.

And you know what? Those fourteen percent of people notice that that 86 percent says they just "believe in God," not necessarily that they're Christians. Y'know, there are a whole lot of religions out there that believe in God but who aren't Christian. Let's say twenty-five percent of the God-fearing people in America don't believe in Jesus. That's probably low, but what the heck...those people intend to sit down and shut up in front of other car salesmen too.

And the rest of those guys, the ones who believe in Jesus? They have friends who are highly offended by your ad, and so they're offended by it too. They'll be sitting down and shutting up in front of other car salesmen too.

In fact, our research--which is just as good as your research--indicates that exactly one person in Bakersfield was neither directly nor indirectly offended by your ad. John Holmes of 3525 Water's Edge just loved your ad. He thought it was just great. Unfortunately for you, he lives in a van down by the river so he can't afford anything you sell, and he got a DUI on his scooter three weeks ago so he couldn't buy now even if he could afford to.

Mr. Kieffe, you know something? I think you screwed up.

Yours sincerely,
A Non-Customer For Life.

[bullwinkle428]

34. Has anyone contacted Ford's corporate offices to let them

know what's going on with this dealership? Ford actually has a pretty good track record when it comes to standing up to bullies. Recall their willingness to stand up to Dobson's Focus on the Family homophobic shit they tried to use against Ford!

[Mountainman]

35. They have always used the last part in their ads.

I use to hear their ads when ever I went to Tehachipi to shop. Never heard one like that though. The are next to Edwards AFB. Not a lot of people there. One of the most notable figures in the area was Poncho Barnes. An aviatrix who was married to a preacher that she left to lead her own life. She would never go for a ad like that.

[RedCappedBandit]

37. Replace "christian" with "white" and this would never fly. nt!

[matt007]

38. lol He will need his god with what he sells

expeditions, explorers, crown vics, f150s, f250s, rangers, mustangs.

lol they all get GREAT gas mileage

[flvegan]

39. "sit down and shut up" while touting free speech. That's rich.

[RedCappedBandit]

41. I think its some sort of universal law that republicans are hypocrites.

[Generic Brad]

43. They should expect a pretty significant backlash

Apparently the dealership has confused atheists with anarchists.