The Ford Motor Company has announced that it will debut it’s brand new Bronco on July 9, 2020. That date just happens to be the birthday of the world’s most famous Bronco passenger, OJ Simpson, born Orenthal James Simpson. In the history of bad marketing moves, this is up there with the 1985 debut of New Coke. One major difference, there was no blood associated with New Coke.

In case you have forgotten, 26 years ago, Nicole Brown Simpson. the ex-wife of football and commercial star OJ Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman were very brutally knifed to death. Five days later, Mr. Simpson agreed to turn himself into the police. Instead, Mr. Simpson escaped in a white Ford Bronco driven by his friend and former teammate, Al Cowlings. The nation had been riveted by the murders and so tuned in to watch the slow speed Bronco chase. It lasted for over an hour and a half and, many of us were frozen in place watching. Here is a video:

Mr. Simpson was acquitted of the murders in the criminal trial, but found civilly liable in a suit brought by the Brown and Goldman families.

Now, you are up to speed. What’s the story with the new Ford Bronco? The Detroit Free-Press talked to automotive industry insiders who think the debut date on Simpson’s birthday is an accident and a mistake:

“I gotta believe this is a mistake. Didn’t anybody look at the calendar?” said John McElroy, veteran industry observer and Autoline.tv host. “Ford Motor Co. does not want to correlate the launch of such an iconic and important vehicle with a police chase with a notorious” person.

“Everybody in the world knew that O.J. was fleeing in a white Ford Bronco.”

And…

Michelle Krebs, executive analyst at Autotrader, said, “I’m not quite sure what to say …”

Ford Motor Company confirmed they are sticking with the date. So, I know what to say. The debut date on OJ’s birthday is not a coincidence. This is a long, but not well, thought out marketing strategy. Ford Motor Company is a $143.9 billion dollar company. They have not had such a big product debut since the 1964.5 Mustang. Famous and infamous are the same when it comes to marketing. You use what you have.

Does Ford Motor Company care that every single dollar of profit off of this sick marketing ploy will be drenched in the blood of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman? Not much.

So, I have come up with a few co-branding ideas:

Bruno Magli Shoes: The night that Brown Simpson and Goldman were murdered, the murderer left behind a Bruno Magli bloody foot print. Size 12. You don’t hear much about Bruno Magli anymore. What a bloody great marketing opportunity.

Isotoner Gloves: At the end of the eleven month murder trial, an OJ lawyer, the late Johnny Cochran, uttered one of the most famous trial lines ever, “If the gloves don’t fit, you must acquit.” The killer had been wearing a pair of Isotoner Aris cashmere lined gloves. Most of us only think of Isotoner at Christmas when we gift gloves and slippers. Here is a mid-Summer co-branding opportunity.

Hertz- The rental car company is a pandemic victim and is in bankruptcy. OJ Simpson used to run through airports in commercials for Hertz. Here is a marketing opportunity to end the bankruptcy on the backs of the murder victims and their families.

The entire Kardashian family – Kriss Jenner is a former wife of the late, OJ lawyer, Robert Kardashian. The Kardashian will do anything for money. They would probably model at the Bronco debut.

Naturally, I really don’t advise any of these people or companies to participate in this vulgar, blood money marketing. I would advise Ford Motor Company to rethink this. Henry Ford was opportunistic, but making money off of murder victims is way too far. Stop this now, Ford. Pick an early August date. Make donations to battered women foundations. Shame on you.

Featured Image: Mark Levi/Fickr.com/cropped/Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0)