Carmaker Ford Stresses It Is Not Associated with Rob Ford
Mayor of Toronto Rob Ford has quickly become better known as the crack-smoking, vulgar language-using, alcoholic Mayor of Toronto after he admitted to using crack-cocaine during a drunken stupor just a year ago. He’s done ridiculous thing after ridiculous thing, and if you want to find examples of his cursing, you won’t have to look very hard on YouTube. Unfortunately for The Ford Motor Company, it shares his name, which means that there might be some crossed wires when one is looking for information on either the latest Ford vehicle or the most recent (Rob) Ford folly.
Now, the name itself may not have been an issue until a “Ford Nation” t-shirt was created using the Dearborn, MI automaker’s iconic blue oval to support the Toronto Mayor, causing many to wonder if Ford the carmaker was somehow backing Ford the Mayor. That is not the case.
“Ford did not grant permission for use of its logo,” a company spokesman told Bloomberg. “We view it as an unauthorized use of our trademark and have asked it to be stopped.”
So, Rob Ford was using the logo illegally, but illegality isn’t anything new for the Mayor of Toronto, who had the majority of his mayoral powers stripped but the Toronto City Council last week (though not before bowling over a councilwoman in appropriately train wreck-like fashion).
The City Council lacks a legal recourse to kick (Rob) Ford completely out of office, and maybe they shouldn’t if you believe Jon Stewart’s take from Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. “Don’t judge him: Maybe he’s cleaning up the city by smoking all the crack in it,” Stewart jested.
Was it a good call for Ford to distance itself from Rob Ford, or did they miss some sort of terrific marketing opportunity? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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