Back in 2002, Ford reached a settlement in a government lawsuit charging that the company engaged in deceptive trade practices with respect to its sport utility vehicles. The key allegations were that Ford kept on using certain tires on its SUV's, even after it figured out that they tended to burst unexpectedly, and that they made the SUV's more likely to roll over.
As part of the settlement, Ford coughed up $30 million to fund a year-long, nationwide SUV safety campaign that is just now getting underway. It features a mascot creatively named "Esuvee", who looks kind of like a cross between Cookie Monster and a buffalo:
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Click here to see him in his full Flash-animated glory.
2 comments:
Yet another entry in the farce known as "Raising Awareness". "Esuvee" is kind of cute in an E.T.-sort of way, however.
Independent auditors (not those paid for by the claimants' personal injury lawyers) have reported that the most likely cause of tire blow-out in the Ford Explorer was a failure to maintain adequate tire pressure and over-use (not replacing worn-out tires). But, we are Americans, and someone must pay for our lack of self-responsibility. Is Japan nearly as litigious as we are?
Posted by Sharon
Good point about those tires, Sharon.
Posted by GaijinBiker
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