Friday, April 11, 2008

1999 Olds Intrique - Call meanest mom on the planet.

Jane Hambleton has dubbed herself the "meanest mom on the planet.''

After finding alcohol in her son's car, she decided to sell the car and share her 19-year-old's misdeed with everyone _ by placing an ad in the local newspaper.

The ad reads: "OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don't love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet.''

Hambleton has heard from people besides interested buyers since recently placing the ad in the Des Moines Register newspaper.

The 48-year-old from Fort Dodge said she has fielded more than 70 telephone calls from emergency room technicians, nurses, school counsellors and even a Georgia man who wanted to congratulate her.

"The ad cost a fortune but you know what? I'm telling people what happened here,'' Hambleton said.

"I'm not just gonna put the car for resale when there's nothing wrong with it, except the driver made a dumb decision.''

"It's overwhelming the number of calls I've gotten from people saying: `Thank you, it's nice to see a responsible parent.' So far there are no calls from anyone saying: `You're really strict. You're real overboard, lady.'''

The only critic is her son, who Hambleton said is "very, very unhappy'' with the ad and claims the alcohol was left by a passenger.

Hambleton believes her son but has decided mercy isn't the best policy in this case. She said she set two rules when she bought the car at Thanksgiving: no booze and always keep it locked.

The car has been sold but Hambleton said she will continue the ad for another week – just for the feedback.

Ford - Drive One!

Four hundred-plus employees, thousands of hours of blood, sweat and tears as well as dealer insights are fueling Ford’s quest to win customers on the strength of its vehicle quality, fuel economy, safety advances and smart technology.

“The best part of Ford’s story is unfolding in the studios, labs, factories and dealerships, and we’re opening the door a bit, so people can see inside,” said Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president of Marketing and Communications. “Customers are smart. When they meet our team and see what they’re working on, people will finally understand where the excellence in our products is coming from. That’s what this campaign is all about.”

This week alone, Ford hopes to reach 70 million Americans with the best thinking and hard work of engineers, scientists, designers and technical experts and dealers throughout the country, who have been working together since November to start telling Ford’s story.

Their collective effort is called “Drive one,” which chronicles in digital, TV and print media how Ford employees have closed the gap with Asian competitors on quality, advanced vehicle safety, made vehicles more fuel efficient and led the industry in developing in-car connectivity. It also invites people to drive a Ford and see for themselves how the company’s vehicles stack up versus the competition.

Read more...