White House freaks out over a 30 second car commercial

Remember this great Ford ad I posted earlier this month?

YouTube | Ford Drive One: "Press Conference: Chris" Commercial

"Chris," the Ford truck owner who appears in the ad is a real person, and just spoke his mind on the day that they filmed that ad.

Well, according to a link I found at RedState, Ford has pulled the ad after pressure from the White House:

MLive.com | Report: Ford pulls bailout ad after criticism from press, questions from White House

...The Dearborn-based automaker is not commenting on the decision to pull the ad, but Daniel Howes of The Detroit News reports that "individuals within the White House" called Ford and questioned whether the spot criticized the policy Mulally had repeatedly supported. 

An industry source said White House did not pressure Ford to remove the ad, but Howes suggested it was pulled in response to the call.

Erick Erickson had this to say:

One fact remains clear — “Chris”, the guy in the advertisement, is a real person, not a paid actor. And the White House may be able to get Ford to yank its ad, but Chris is still out there, won’t back down, and his message still resonates. 

Shame on Ford for backing down from a great ad that resonates with many people irrespective of political party affiliation.

While I find it pathetic and embarrassing that that White House would trouble itself over a 30 second car commercial, in my opinion, the eagerness for intrusive, intimidating tactics that this move reveals is far worse.

Remember all that "Most Transparent Administration Ever" stuff? Normally, "transparent" means that you are being open and ethical, but apparently this White House interprets it to mean that they are just going to be so blatantly corrupt a blind man couldn't miss it.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin just posted a comprehensive article with lots of links and information. Definitely worth reading.

UPDATE #2: Ford has completely chickened out and removed the ad from YouTube. For shame. If anyone has a link to another video of the ad, please let me know.