Ford Forced to Pull Anti-Bailout Ad?
Did White House pressure company to take commercial off the air?
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," September 28, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Now, between Solyndra, project gun runner, and the recent Gibson guitar wars, the anointed one's reelection campaign really cannot afford another political controversy, at least not right now. But yet there's a brand new scandal that's brewing in the Motor City.
Now, in early September the Ford Motor Company began airing this TV commercial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm Kristen.
CHRIS MCDANIEL, FORD CUSTOMER: Kristen, hi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to head on into the interview.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chris, was buying American important to you?
MCDANIEL: I wasn't going to buy another car that was bailed out by our government. I was going to buy from manufacture that's standing on their own, win, lose or draw. That's what America is about, taking the chance to succeed and understanding when you fail you got to pick yourself up and go back to work. Ford is that company for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, shortly after its debut, the ad, which criticizes the government's auto bailouts was abruptly yanked off the air waves. And now, there are conflicting reports as to the reason why. Now, according to the Detroit News, it was pulled in response to White House concerns that the ad could damage or negatively influence public opinion of the president's decision.
The White House, of course is denying this report, as is Ford, which said in a statement, quote, "These spots are scheduled for certain periods and this one ran its normal course."
But not everyone is buying these explanations, including the customer who starred in that now out-of-commission ad. And he joins us live tonight from San Diego, Chris McDaniel. Chris, how are you? Thanks for being on the program.
MCDANIEL: Thanks, Sean. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
HANNITY: All right. First of all, you didn't know you were doing -- this is interesting to me. You did now know you are going to be in a commercial, right? You bought a car. Why don't you walk -- I dropped my pen. Why don't walk us through the process.
MCDANIEL: I bought a car, about a month later, I bought a truck, a F150, with the new EcoBoost engine, and about a month later, I was contacted about a marketing company who said they were doing market research specifically about that new engine in that truck. So, we, my wife and I went up and answered some questions, and didn't think anything of it.
A month later, I was contacted again, this time I believed it was by the Ford marketing arm who said, we'd like to get a little more in-depth focus on what it is that you like so much about this EcoBoost engine. Would you come up and answer some questions? And I assumed that was bubbling in some answers on a worksheet and maybe talking to somebody about my experiences. And so, from the time I pull up in the commercial, until I walked in that room, I literally have no idea what's going on. I'm not an actor. Certainly the event was staged by the marketing company or Ford, but I'm not an actor and I had no idea what was going to happen. I mean, literally I was so shocked.
HANNITY: I kind of admire you, speaking from the heart, I didn't want to buy a car from a company bailed out by the government, I was going to take it to the manufacture that win, lose or draw on their own -- I like your sentiment. I like, you know, your guts. So, they tell you this is going to become a commercial, right?
MCDANIEL: Well, I leave there not knowing if they're going to run the ads. And in fact, they ran about two months of ads that I wasn't involved in. And I was little disappointed that I didn't make the cut, so to speak, then I got an e-mail saying that congratulations, your ad has been selected to air. And it was at that point in time, once I saw an actual cut of the ad, that they chose to run my comments about the bail-outs.
HANNITY: Well, do you -- look, I guess it's speculation unless you have internal knowledge, do you think this was pulled for the reasons that some have been writing about, that the Obama administration which wants to tout their bail-out as some success got angry and got in touch with Ford? Go ahead.
MCDANIEL: Sean, I contacted Ford, and I asked them fairly straightforward and bluntly, you know, what the truth behind these? And they have a reasonable explanation, that the ad ran its cycle, and that this is just a part of the advertising world that we live in. It just seems fishy that these other stories are circling around at the same time. You know the old saying, where there's smoke, there's fire. And I applaud Ford for having the courage to put the ad on the air and running with it. And the sentiment around America is great.
HANNITY: All right. But they also cleaned it from their web site, you told me.
MCDANIEL: They did.
HANNITY: Now, did they clean the other ads from the web site?
MCDANIEL: From what I understand they took all the ads down. But they told me, it was a technical difficulty. But the ads did not reappear for some about 10 days. And that's when I sent an e-mail, saying, hey, what happened to the ad on the web?
HANNITY: Yes, right. Well, you know what's interesting, too, is you told me, your wife lost her job in 2008. You've been struggling as a family. You lost your house. And you've been building your way back up. Your wife's back to work. You were able to buy this Ford F150, it's a real success story, where you had to dig down deep inside, and then you got chosen for this. I mean, a lot of good things have worked out for you. But yet it seems like you've held on your belief in yourself as an individual rather than look to the government. Can you just give us 30 seconds on how tough that was for you?
MCDANIEL: Sean, I believe it's about personal responsibility. I believe this country, what it's lacking is what I want to send to you, which is a painting done by my cousin, whose an amazing artist at WinnersGallery.com, and what's in the heart, and what we're missing is our belief in Christ, and that it's a belief in ourselves that we have the ability to overcome anything if we're striving for the right things in our lives.
My faith, Sean, saved me in this difficult time for my family. You know, I had to pack a lunch. I could no longer go out and eat at the restaurants that I like to and spend the money. I had to downsize and do more with less, and make it on my own without government interfering.
It's that personal responsibility that we're missing. All I ask is, isn't it time that the government starts packing a lunch and taking a brown bag to work and stop spending so much money that we don't have? Is it unreasonable to ask that question?
HANNITY: You know, incredibly inspiring story. You may want to think about running for president.
MCDANIEL: I think wehave qualified candidates.
HANNITY: I'm glad things were working out for you and your family. Thank you for sharing your story and your time with us tonight. We really appreciate it.
MCDANIEL: Thanks so much, Sean. Greatly appreciate it.
HANNITY: Thank you. That's a beautiful painting, by the way.
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