General Motors will keep airing Mayan calendar ad despite Ford's request to stop

From the Detroit Free Press: General Motors will keep airing Mayan calendar ad despite Ford's request to stop General Motors stands by its Super Bowl ad that plays on the apocalyptic end of the world according to the Mayan calendar that stakes survival on driving a Chevrolet Silverado. The ad, which can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/user/Chevrolet/home">http://www.youtube.com/user/Chevrolet/home, is scheduled to run in the first quarter of the Super Bowl. It is one of five Chevy spots to run today. GM released a statement today saying Chevrolet was asked by Ford on Saturday to stop airing the ad that suggests the owner of a Ford F-150 pickup did not make it to the meeting point. GM points out the “2012” ad is an over-the-top spoof with “the devastation and destruction predicted to occur this year by the Mayan calendar includes giant attack robots, meteors and frogs falling from the sky.” “We stand by our claims in the commercial, that the Silverado is the most dependable, longest-lasting full-size pickup on the road. The ad is a fun way of putting this claim in the context of the apocalypse,” said GM Global Chief Marketing Officer Joel Ewanick. Jim Farley, Ford’s global marketing chief, said Ford takes pride in its sales supremacy in the truck segment for 35 years. “So from an advertising standpoint, we will absolutely defend our leadership in the market.” Farley said the letter was intended to challenge the assertions GM is making about durability. “I write to demand that you refrain from running this commercial,” Ford lawyer Lynne Matuszak writes in the letter first obtained by the Detroit News. Ford demands that Chevrolet “immediately cease and desist from making any unsubstantiated and disparaging claims regarding Ford's pickup trucks” and insists that GM not run the ad during the Super Bowl; remove it from their website, YouTube, Facebook and any other Internet sites. Spokesman Mike Levine said Ford has more trucks on the road with at least 250,000 miles on them. “That demonstrates how durable they are in the real world.” Farley said Ford has made its point and the ball is in GM’s court. Further action is not planned on Ford’s part, he said, although the letter threatens “if Chevrolet does not comply with the above terms prior to the start of the Super Bowl, then Ford will take all appropriate steps to enforce and protect its reputation.” As for GM, “we can wait until the world ends, and if we need to, we will apologize,” Ewanick’s statement said. “In the meantime, people who are really worried about the Mayan calendar coming true should buy a Silverado right away,” Ewanick said. Ford did not have an immediate comment.