Ford’s European operations have pulled all advertising from Britain best-selling newspaper following allegations that the Rupert Murdoch-owned publication hacked into a missing girl’s voicemail.
Ford says it will no longer advertise in the News of the World following a voicemail scandal. The newspaper has been hit with multiple lawsuits from celebrities claiming the News of the World hacked into personal voicemails, and the paper is now facing allegations that illegally accessed the voicemail of a murdered girl.
“Ford is a company which cares about the standards of behavior of its own people and those it deals with externally,” a Ford spokesman told Automotive News. “We are awaiting an outcome from the News of the World investigation.”
Early this week it was revealed that News of the World illegally hacked into the voicemail of Milly Dowler, a young girl that was reported missing before being discovered dead. The newspaper not only illegally accessed the girl’s voicemail account, but also deleted messages in order to make room in her mailbox.
Since the news broke on July 4th, a Twitter campaign has launched urging advertisers to follow in Ford’s footsteps. The campaign, which features messages like, “Dear [@advertiser] Do you think it ethical to stock a newspaper prepared to hack a murdered girl’s phone?”, is targeting a list of advertisers that include Renault, Virgin Media, EasyJet, T-Mobile and Weight Watchers.
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1.’Ford pulls ads…’ view
