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Uniontown auto parts supplier sues Ford over slogan
(The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Mar. 28--Ford Motor Co. boasts "We Speak Car" in new ads for its Fusion sedan. Rick Frank claims his Uniontown-based auto parts store chain has been fluent in the same language for almost six years -- and his customers know it.
Confusion over the use of the "We Speak Car" slogan prompted Frank's Auto Supply Inc. to file a lawsuit against the giant automaker this week in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, claiming unfair competition. Frank said he wants Ford to stop using the statement and to pay damages.
A spokesman for Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Frank's grandfather founded the business in 1938, and Frank's Auto has seven Western Pennsylvania stores. Since 2003, thousands of fliers with the slogan have been distributed through local newspapers, and he's used "We Speak Car" in cable TV commercials. One of his business's online domain names, in fact, is www.wespeakcar.com. Another is www.autosupermarket.com.
Frank's Auto Supply has stores in Indiana, Greensburg, Uniontown, Charleroi, McKeesport, North Huntingdon and Washington. Customers and employees started asking him about commercials for the Ford Fusion and Fusion hybrid that aired on the March 3 episode of Fox's "American Idol" and have been running since.
About 40 people have mentioned the commercials to him so far, he said, adding the problem is, "They are not sure in some cases whether there is some connection between us and Ford."
With automakers' reputations and future in question these days, that's not something he necessarily wants, Frank said -- and besides, his stores carry 400 suppliers' items for many vehicles, not just Fords.
The lawsuit notes Ford is said to have spent $60 million to $80 million on the "We Speak Car" ad campaign so far.
Frank is applying for a trademark for the slogan he still considers to be his. But until the legal issues are resolved, "I don't know if I will use it now."
To see more of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/.
Copyright (c) 2009, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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