So I have been out of the loop for a while now but I happned to pick up a mustang montly magazine at a friends house the other night since all of my subscriptions have expired. I am still in disbelief at what Ford is trying to do. Basically they are going after any company, magazine or website that uses "Ford, Mustang, Pony, Thunderbird, etc" in any of their names. Do you know how many people and small businesses this is going to screw. I am not sure what reteard is in their marketing dept now, but I would be happy that these companies are promoting the Ford name and making people want to buy and modify that make of vehicle. Why would I want to piss these people off especialy when Ford is laying off 30,000 jobs. Must just be me who doesn't understand. As a Ford owner I just don't understand what the hell they are thinking. I cut out an artle below that summed it up pretty good. It came from another site so I have to give them credit. I hope that someone at Fords wakes up before they show up infront of their headquaters with pitch forks.

There are links and e-mail addresses below where you can give Ford a piece of your mind.

Ford Motor Company - Stop Digging Your Grave

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Ford Motor Company does not just want to go after companies that sell Mustang parts and use their Mustang trademarked name in their Company name, they want to go after us. They want to go after all the websites, companies and magazines that use the name Mustang or Ford in their company name. Yes you heard it right EVERYONE. That means some of your favorite Mustang websites, Mustang parts dealers, and Mustang magazines are being attacked by the very company they promote.

Let's take a look at the possible companies that are going to be affected by Ford:

Mustangevolution.com
Mustangforums.com
Mustang-Forums.com
Mustang.com
Mustangtuning.com
Allfordmustangs.com
Muscle-Mustangs.com
Vintage-Mustang.com
Mustangworld.com
Mustangfaqs.com
Mustangheaven.com
Fordpower.net
3.8mustang.com
Mustangseats.com
Mustang.org
Mustangworks.com
Cal-Mustang.com
Mustangmonthly.com
Mustangenthusiast.com
Moddedmustangs.com

I am sure there are more, but those just pop into my head.

Here is points from an article by Mustangmonthly.com which is also on Ford's future target list:


Quote:
Originally Posted by Mustang Monthly
About 10 years ago, Ford started making noise about the use of the Mustang name. As a result, some companies modified their name to include a descriptive word, such as Classic. When asked if those companies would still be targeted, our source at Ford said, "At the time, that was deemed acceptable. Ford has changed its mind."


Changed your mind? How convienent. I might just change my mind about my next car purchase too.


Quote:
The letter also demands that the companies turn over for destruction all signs, banners, business cards, stationary, and so on, that use Mustang in the company name, along with a cashier's check for $5,000 in damages. One company was given less than two weeks to comply, and another has discontinued its advertising, a potentially devastating move for a mail-order company, until the situation is resolved.


2 weeks! They are hurting these businesses people.


Quote:
Upon further research, it appears the matter will only be resolved when everyone--parts companies, Web sites, even magazines--stops using the Mustang name, primarily because Ford fears the usage might be construed as an affiliation with Ford. A source at Ford, who asked to remain anonymous, explained that Ford has decided to "reclaim its legacy" by protecting its trademarks and logos. "The intent is to eliminate the use of trademark names," including Mustang and Thunderbird, among others. Apparently, Ford went after companies using Ford in their name first; now it's time to clean up Mustang.


Claim back their legacy by ****ing off their loyal customers?


Quote:
So now companies are faced with making a name change, and it won't be as easy as replacing Mustang with Pony or Stang. According to Ryther, Ford is protecting those trademarks too. His suggestion is for companies to change their names to something generic like "Classic Car Parts," then add a tagline about specializing in Mustangs. Sounds confusing to me.


Here is the kicker! Pony and Stang are also registered Trademarks of Ford

Ford wants to make EVERY COMPANY listed above remove the name Mustang from it. You have no idea how disgusted I am with Ford. Their company is in the worst financial shape in years so they decide to start ****ing off even more of their customers, the very people that create what the Ford Mustang is, by suing the Enthusiast sites and the companies that sell to the Enthusiasts.

I apologize Ford, that I do not wish to purchase my OEM parts from you and be raped by your outragous prices. Competition is a pain isn't it? It must suck when some small company can make a better product to replace your crappy OEM one and do it for less than it costs to purchase the crappy OEM one.

You may have every right to do this legally, just like we have every right to decide to skip the Ford dealer lot next time we go car shopping. I hope you reconsider your decision to go after the little man here. The little man might just be bigger than you thought when it is all said and done.

So I urge you Ford Motor Company, please do not continue with these poorly misguided lawsuits. Doing so will only hurt your image in the eyes of the ones that have supported you for so long.

Brent Wilson
Owner, Mustangevolution.com

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Re: Ford Motor Company - Stop Digging Your Grave

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I'd like for everyone to respond to this thread that agrees with what I have written and I would like everyone to link to this thread from other websites that you post at. This is not a game Ford is playing with us. They can take everything I worked my ass off for the last 3 years away from me and not give a rats ass about it. Please help me make Ford realize that they have gone to far here.

You may also contact Ford here: https://secure.ford.com/en/support/emailUs.htm

I urge you to do this as well.

Digg this page!

The best way you can help with this is to link to this thread and email ford. Here is the link to this thread:

For other websites:
Code:
<a href="http://www.mustangevolution.com/forum/ford-motor-company-stop-digging-your-21532.html">Ford Motor Company</a>

For other forums:
Code:
Ford Motor Company

If enough people use the link above with Ford Motor Company as the anchor text, search engines will begin ranking this thread higher and higher for the term Ford Motor Company in Google, Yahoo and MSN. Meaning more people see this thread.

So if you have a Car Domain Page, Personal Website, MySpace page, or post on another forum, you can post this link on them. Every link counts.

Wow what bullshit that is. Ford has really gone down hill lately, and I am slowly loosing interst in my favorite blue oval. I really thought that the gt500 was going to bring them back in the lime light, but i really dont see that happening anymore. First off they are producing them in limited numbers IIRC somewhere in the 5,000-10,000 range, they are also going to $40,000+ which is out of the price range that most would be mustang buyers sit in. Also where the hell has SVT gone. There are a few SVT badges on the new gt500 but they have dropped the cobra name, and the adrenaline, and lightning are gone as well.

Come on ford get your head out of your ass and get back to what you do best producing fine automobiles...

Jeremy

Yeah, that is pretty depressing. Better put a hold on buying that FordMotorCompanyPonyMustangsAreTheShit.com and .net. Don't need the feds from Ford knocking on my door.

Unbelievable. Ford stock is just about in the toilet as well. Was considering buying some auto stocks, but after seeing its trend, its pretty sad.

see i dont understand why you can go after something that contains **mustange** **pony** blah blah. what if you had a sight that was about riding a mustange?
I seem to remeber a post we had a loooooooooooong time ago about the future of domestics with the begining of the import scene and how domestic manufactures would fair. Ill have to see if i can find it.
It sure looks like the domestic market is in a sharp downward spiral, and nothings gonna dig em out.
oh well.

The domestic scene isnt doing so badly over all, just ford has been really sucking it up, and GM also made a bad move getting rid of the trans am/ camaro.

Anyways it is really hard to beat the deal that over seas car manufactures are offering. They are bringing better performance, and reliability in small economical cars that appeal to the masses. Exspecially with gas prices the way they are people are falling away from big block v-8 powered cars. And car manufactures are able to produce 4 and 6 cylander engines putting out similar horse power numbers to their big brother v8's. They are also doing this more econmically, so yeah that is why the domestic market is failing. Shit the only 2 cars that I can think of domestically that try to compete with the over sea market are the srt4 neon which is no defunct, and the cobalt SS. Both those cars from what I read sold very well. As much as I love the mustang ford really needs to bring out something like one of those two cars. Shit bring back the SVO mustang from the mid 80's. It was a 4 banger turbo mustang that gave its 5.0 brother a run for its money. My 2 cents...

Jeremy

yea dodge is about the only mani thats still doing well, and the srt-4 has done pretty well.
just look at everything else ford/chevy has put out.
new t-bird...dont see those at all anymore
the marauder...nice car, but again they dont sell.
the GTO...haha after what two years they are pullin them from the production line.
the charger...New still but dont see them selling.
they dropped the maro/fbird and im willing to bet that they fall on their face when reintroduced to the market.
Im sorry but the cobalt is a piece of shit, talk to someone whose owned one and ask how many times that things been in and outta the dealership getting fix.
the only cars that sell now are the stang and vette the rest just cant hang, or just way overpriced for what they are!

— 98gtvert

Also where the hell has SVT gone. There are a few SVT badges on the new gt500 but they have dropped the cobra name, and the adrenaline, and lightning are gone as well.

Come on ford get your head out of your ass and get back to what you do best producing fine automobiles...

Jeremy

You won't see SVT anymore. They have been shut down.... The only way to spice things up now is to buy a Roush, Saleen, Steeda car already done up.

Or you could always buy something stock and fix it up. But wait a minute...how are you suppose to find aftermarket parts when you can't do a google search anymore because the nazi's at ford have taken all of the text off the internet because its copyrighted.

I can see the search now "performance parts for the 1st american automaker that went out of business because they were stupid and pissed off their most loyal cutomers"

Has SVT officially shut its doors. I keep hearing conflicting reports. Some say yes it has and other say it is still alive and kicking just in a different form. Oh well Like I said above bring back the svo mustang and lay off the bullshit of suing people for using the word mustang...

Jeremy