Ford Motors has bent over and grabbed its ankles for a conservative group. The car company has capitulated to the homophobic demands of the American Family Association after a two-year boycott. The AFN began boycotting the automaker in March of 2006 over its totally gay advertising practices. On Tuesday, the AFN announced that Ford had met its demands and the boycott would cease. The demands included four conditions: Ford will cease advertising on gay websites; it will stop promotions with gay organizations; it will no longer make corporate donations to groups supporting gay marriage; and it won't make cash or vehicle donations to gay social activities, like gay pride parades or other such bastions of sacrilege. Ford will still be allowed to spend $100,000 advertising Volvo (which Ford acquired in 1999) in gay outlets, provided that the ads are for a general audience and not specific to the gay community (aka Volvo owners). Presumably, Volvo ads like this one will be out.

Ford has said that its principles haven't changed and that it hopes to move beyond the boycott. "We are committed to treating everyone fairly and with respect, including our dealers, customers and employees," stated a rep for the company, "Ford will continue to market its products widely to attract as many customers as possible and make charitable contributions to strengthen communities to the extent business conditions allow." Still, some Ford dealers, especially those in the South, reported that the boycott had left their sales flaccid.

The AFA began targeting Ford, which it once deemed "the company which has done the most to affirm and promote the homosexual lifestyle," in December of 2005. Under pressure from the group, Ford stopped running ads for its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in gay outlets in early December of that year. Less than two weeks later, the automaker reversed its decision under pressure from gay rights groups. "It is my hope that this will remove any ambiguity about Ford's desire," a company VP said at the time, "to advertise to all important audiences and put this particular issue behind us."

Ford's now totally straight brands include Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Aston Martin, Land Rover, Ford, Jaguar, and the closeted Volvo. Looks like Subaru will have to corner the market on gay car sales.