Another update to the Kieffe & Sons “Sit Down and Shut Up” ad fiasco: The quasi-apology issued by the California Ford dealer on Wednesday was mandated by Ford Headquarters. Kieffe & Sons remains unrepentant, so to speak, and blames the imbroglio on “Blog-lo-dites.”
On Wednesday, Kieffe & Sons posted a statement on their website, apologizing to “all who were offended.” As commenters pointed out, saying you’re sorry that someone got offended is not the same as actually apologizing for what you said. Now, according to the Bakersfield Californian, we find out even the non-apology wasn’t genuine.
“I don’t regret the sentiment at all,” said Kieffe, who bought the 48-year-old dealership from his father in 1974. “It’s what we believe.”
. . .
The dealer’s Web site Thursday bore a statement about the ad that included an apology “to all who were offended.” Kieffe said he’d been contacted by Ford Motor Co. after the manufacturer heard complaints from numerous “blog-lo-dites.” The company asked him to post something saying he was sorry if he’d offended anyone, Kieffe said.
Kieffe said he will continue using J.W. Horne for the dealer’s ads. Horne also confirmed that he wrote the trolling, single-entry blog that went up on Thursday.
Ford Says “Shut Up” Ad Was a Mistake, But Dealer Stands Behind It [Bakersfield Californian]
PREVIOUSLY: California Ford Dealership Radio Ad Tells Non-Christians To “Sit Down And Shut Up”
(Photo: Amy Watts)
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@Glamourdammerung: “While at the same time going on a rant about how they are subject to persecution that is pretty much imaginary at best.”
LOL. I forbid exactly two behaviors in my comparative religions class, right in the syllabus: If you’re a Christian, you don’t get to whine about being a member of an “oppressed” supermajority. And if you’re a non-Christian, you don’t get to toss off casual bigotry about Christians just because it’s culturally okay to hate on the supermajority. Both attitudes annoy the ever-living SHIT out of me.
Some of my students have very little to say when they’re not allowed to complain about the horrific oppression they suffer as a supermajority.
@AtomicPlayboy: “as it’s difficult to imagine one of these ID idiots being accepted to a prestigious university”
I knew a full-out creationist at Duke Med.
—
The one thing I tell myself to comfort me in the midst of this idiocy is that at least they’re putting it on the radio — I’m in favor of bigots being public bigots so I know who to avoid and disdain and what exactly we still have to fight against to wipe out this kind of crap. Just like I’m in favor of NAMBLA because I think ALL felons should join clubs stating their intent to commit felonies. It makes it so much easier for the rest of us.
I have to say Ford should consider yanking the franchise not because of the offensive behavior or the creationist vs. evolutionist issue, but the sheer stupidity of a dealership going so far out of its way to arrogantly insult a significant portion of its customer base.
Then, the dealership violated the First Law of Holes – when you’re in one, quit digging. They’re too stupid (or is it arrogant?) to issue a sincere apology.
Morons.
Perhaps they need to put the following on the California border so outgoing traffic can see it… “Leaving California. Resume normal behavior”. j/k
@Eyebrows McGee: If loving Marlon Brando is a felony you’d better lock me up and throw away the key.
@Rippleeffect: I’m going to guess you work for them or are a troll, considering you’ve only ever posted to this entry.
I will make sure to evaluate your comments based on this information.
I feel compelled to ask that you stop running stories that make me want to leave the country.
I’m sure that Fat Redneck Chickenboy wouldn’t care if I did, either, and that’s fine with me. Y’all can keep the backwater birdbrains.
@joellevand: This makes no sense to me. I have to register at some point, and comment on an article at some point. I just happened to have a comment and viewpoint associated with what I read here. I see no reason to make that association and call someone else a troll because they have a different viewpoint than the majority of people here.
If you guys want to sit and vent over things, that’s fine. I wont stop you, but I won’t accept the crap that’s being tossed my way because I said it seemed that people were getting upset over something silly. The blatent attacks directed my way for stating my very own opinion (which everyone one here is doing now anyway), are just disheartening, and seem to only validate my feelings that these boards are just laced with hate for opposing views.
Ban me if you wish, but i’ve yet to personally attack a single person here, but have taken a lot of trash from just about everyone, save for a couple of persons. This just seems to be a very infriendly site to visit.
I will say this outright. I do not work for the dealership, or any dealership. I am not trolling, but giving an opinion just like everyone else here is. I created an account after reading this blog for several months because I felt that there was something I felt like saying. I have heard the actual commercial on the radio. I drive by the dealer everyday. I have found no opinion columns written in the local paper. I have heard no conversations by local people that have heard the actual commercial. Believe me, the people I work with voice their opinions when something upsets them. This is info that I have, that other’s did not, and I’m sorry if it has offended people stating as such. Seems to me that in general people are quick to be offended, but rarely appologize when they offend others. In my mind, it makes those here that are spewwing hate no better than those at the dealer they hate so much.
From past experience, I know that nothing I say here will change people’s mind about who I am, or claim to me. To those, I’m sorry.
And to Joellevand; I have in fact posted in a thread other than this one, before you actually posted your’s. (Granted it was only today) Please do research before you accuse me.
To the Mods, ban me if you must. I will not add anything else to this thread, or answer any personal whispers by others on this matter. I can not sit by and just take the abuse on a blog that I frequently read several times a day at the office. As far as I’m concerned, I’m done with the intollerance
I seem to remember that I called this.
The wording of the apology made it absolutely clear that they weren’t in any way, shape, or form apologizing for the ad’s message.
On the plus side, I respect Ford more. I’m still going to tell people not to buy Ford vehicles until they pull this joker’s license.
@Rippleeffect:
As I’ve stated before, their advertisement is no different than having them say that jews, blacks, gays, muslims, or any other minority should “sit down and shut up.”
If you support the business, you support that business’s messages.
Why am I not surprised that it’s a Georgetown student that owns the Creationist Celibacy Car?
@Eyebrows McGee:
No casual bigotry about Christians here. Evangelicals can DIAF, however, because they’re the ones who stir up hate like this.
It really isn’t difficult to liken them to the insane mullahs who run M.E. theocracies.
Sayeth Rippleeffect:
“Seems to me that a lot of people are just looking for things to be angry about. If you dont like it, don’t buy from there. Like they said, sit down and shut up =(“
Go fuck yourself. Seriously, go fuck yourself. Now, you CANNOT get mad and complain about my saying that, since you didn’t HAVE to read it. Just sit down and shut up…after you’ve fucked yourself, of course. Or are you just looking for something to be angry about?
By the way, 84% of the posters here think you’re an asshole, so that means it’s OFFICIAL (you know, like what you almost certainly believe about America being a “Christian nation” despite all evidence to the contrary).
Rippleeffect, you are so terribly upset by the intolerance of being told to “sit down and shut up” while defending some moron doing the same thing? And as far as melodramatically crying about being abused, you should have thought of that before telling people to “sit down and shut up”.
Any fool crying about “PC BS” like you did earlier, then trying to cry about how they are being victimised is pathetic and dishonest to the point of being disgusting. I am terribly sorry you decided to throw crap at people and they told you off. My advice to you is to sit down and shut up.
I’ve not heard of “blog-lo-dite” before, but I have to say, I think bloglodyte is actually quite a nice turn of phrase. I suppose you could deal in stereotypes and trade cave-dwelling for “places with an internet connection”-dwelling too if so inclined.
Still, it’s probably a successful ad campaign in terms of publicity.
the hypocrite doesn’t even go to a church.
He just wants your money from the people stupid enough to buy his products. It’s the same as all those people on TBN asking for dough.
I think some well placed posts about the similarity of “Kieffe” to “keffiya”, and branding these hypocrites a “muslim terrorist splinter cell” should shut them up for awhile…
@Mike the Dog: Not that I’d advocate actually doing such a thing, mind you.
I don’t consider myself an atheist, but this dealership and their ads offend me. They are using religion and God’s name to sell cars. Yes, that’s very offensive.
Why in the world would anyone want to buy a Ford anyway regardless of who was selling it? Ford and GM make crap.
You know, this whole 85%/15% thing is a little stupid. The question they asked is something like “do you believe there is a God” or even “there may be a God”, which easily 85% of the population would likely agree with. However, if they turned the question on its head and asked “do you believe that there might not be a God?” or “do you believe that God might not exist?” the results would be something like 60% saying “yes” because now you’ve got those fence-sitters with their legs hanging over the side you prefer.
This dealership and the people who run it just need to disappear.
From a business point of view, a firm must do whatever it can to maximize it’s shareholder’s wealth. If Kieffe & Sons are making more money through this form of advertisement and the exposure over the interwebs, good for them.
However, making money over statements borderlining hate-speech under the guise of “free speech” demands immediate action by someone in authority. No matter where you go, there will always be a minority group in every sense and it is the job of the authority figure in a democratic system to protect the rights of the minority.
To be completely, K&S dealerships just strengthen my desire for not purchasing Ford vehicles.
considering Bakersfield was the home of those singing Nazi twins, i’d say this dealership has nothing to worry about.
Look, I said it on the previous article, and I’ll say it on this one. If we all send angry emails to Ford, pointing out how “Religious Intolerance Used Car Sales Guy” is using the name of their company in his hateful, idiotic commercial, maybe they will pull his franchise agreement or something.
From Ford’s website:
Ford Motor Company
Customer Relationship Center
P.O. Box 6248
Dearborn, MI 48126
800-392-3673
I just want to say that I live in the Antelope Valley, and I will NEVER go to Kieffe & Sons now. And I’ll be telling all my friends not to, as well (and trust me, boys, I got a lot of friends).
How’s that taste, Kieffe?
@sarahandthecity:
The soon-to-be-hotties? I think I remember something about them being moved away from the neo-nazis by one of their parents and the other trying to get custody, yadda yadda yadda. I could be wrong, though, and it might be the opposite.
As I commented in the original post, I live in the town where the ads were playing [Ridgecrest, CA on KSSI, iRock].
I listened to the radio all weekend and didn’t hear any of the offending ads. I only heard one ad from them that qualified as a decent car dealership ad… it just talked about the cars.
@dj-anakin: Correction: “one of the towns where the ads were playing”
I just fired off another email explaining that his apology was not a very good one and it’s obvious he doesn’t care about his customers.. which people have come to expect from auto dealers.
I also reminded him that even though he claims to be a Christian, he doesn’t seem to be acting like one, and that no one cares about his opinion or beliefs. The only thing we want to hear from him is the deals he’s offering on cars. I also informed him that I, nor any of my large extended family and friends will ever buy from his tiny dealerships in their trashy towns. [they really are]
“The No. 2 U.S. automaker is so far navigating brilliantly through a very dangerous minefield while the fate of its U.S. competitors, General Motors and Chrysler, looks bleaker by the day.” The Detroit Free Press says, “While GM and Chrysler quickly asked for bridge loans in order to keep operating, Ford – thanks to a cash pile it built by borrowing back in 2006 before the credit crunch – said it didn’t need a rescue. At least not right away.
Wow, I love this statement,$ 20 would have saved two lives in 2006. Ford Motor Company may not need a rescue, but all the people who’s houses and cars have burned up sure do! Many people have been ‘literally burned alive by defective ford products, and the families that were loyal Ford Motor Company consumers, appear to be the last concern on Ford’s list. It goes back to the old saying ” when times get hard you find out who your true friends are”. Ford has not been a very good friend, to me or the other families that have lost loved ones. A Good Friend, or a Good Company would not let the consumer drive around with ticking time bombs under their hood. A good company would own -up to all it’s mistakes financial and structural decisions are one thing, human life is another.
What is the price, the worth of my son Payton? The 22 year old young man in his prime, that was so proud to be driving a Lincoln. This American Car Company, turned it’s back on this typical all American Young man, by failing to recall the car until 7 months after his being burned beyond recognition. Failing in ever aspect of good Customer Relations ( including Scott Monty on twitter). No flowers, No car-replacement, No payment of funeral cost,and then to have the audacity to deny! To hire attorney’s to fight against the families, as if we are the enemy instead of loyal consumers that have lost children. To Ford’s navigating brilliantly through a very dangerous minefield statement, I agree Ford Motor Company did navigate brilliantly during the cruise control switch recall,doing it in stages as to not scare off the consumer. Unfortunate for the poor loyal consumer that’s car burst into flames because the ‘navigator’ failed to acknowledge (SCDS bomb) under the hood.
Payton Tyler Lewis 9-9-94 killed 12-9-06 Rest in Peace my son Momma is hear to plea your case and hopefully save some others their lives.