Ford Canada moved quickly last week to pull an ad from newspapers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba after concerns it may promote vehicle thefts.
The full-page ad showed the rear bumper of a vehicle with a sticker that read “Drive it like you stole it,” and underneath “Built for life in Manitoba.”
Const. Jeff Norman, a spokesman for Winnipeg police, said Friday that they’re concerned about the message the ads might send.
“We have to believe there was no intention to imply that auto theft and dangerous driving are acceptable activities,” he said. “However, the advertisement could be interpreted to be condoning such behaviours.”
Police were alerted to the ads by members of the media, who said people called to complain about the ad campaign. There has been a lot of media coverage of auto theft cases in Manitoba.
A 16-year-old who was behind the wheel of a stolen pickup truck was sentenced Thursday to 21 months in custody after pleading guilty to mowing down and killing a Winnipeg cyclist last summer.
Twenty vehicles per day were stolen in Manitoba in 2007, according to a Manitoba Public Insurance website. On average, MPI says, three people are killed and 76 are injured each year in theft-related crashes. Most vehicles are stolen by joyriding youth with some of the thieves as young at 10.
MPI spokesman John Douglas said he was surprised at the ad, given that Ford was among the first of the automakers to equip its models with sophisticated anti-theft devices.
“It’s a good example, I think, of where the advertising arm of the corporation is undermining and hurting what the long-term reputation of the corporation has been,” he told CTV.
Gina Gehlert, spokeswoman for the Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd., in Oakville, Ont., said the company regrets any concern the ads may have caused. “We’d like to apologize for these ads,” she said.
She wouldn’t elaborate on what the original thinking was behind the ad campaign, or what it’s intent may have been.
“At Ford of Canada safety is a top priority and for that reason we’ve decided to pull the ads,” Gehlert said.
When asked whether the ad campaign might be continued in other markets or reworked, Gehlert said she couldn’t speculate on that. Young & Rubicam, Ford’s creative agency, declined to comment on the ad or ensuing controversy.
