‘Built Ford Tough’ Lawsuit Predictably Fails, Once Again

New York court rules that Blue Oval slogan is nothing more than mere puffery…which any reasonable person already knows.

For the most part, we’ve got a lot of faith in humanity. But after seeing the silly lawsuits that make their way through our court system, we sometimes wonder. One of the silliest we’ve seen lately is a false advertising case that recently came out of the Northern District of New York. The premise of the suit surrounded Ford Motor Company’s “Built Ford Tough” slogan, which the owner of a 2015 F-150 took a little too literally.

Kommer v. Ford Motor Company came about after the truck’s owner experienced some issues with his doors and door locks. When temperatures dipped below freezing, the doors failed to latch properly and the locks would cease functioning. It was a common enough issue that Ford issued a Technical Service Bulletin for the 2015 and 2016 model years.

No big deal, right? After all, automotive manufacturers issue TSBs and recalls all the time. Compared to some of the crazy stuff we’ve seen (like the 700,000 Chevy trucks that were recalled for losing their steering mid-turn), temperamental locks are pretty mild in comparison. Thankfully, the court system agreed. Again.

According to The National Law Review, the courts found FoMoCo’s Built Ford Tough slogan to be nothing more than non-actionable puffery. In other words, the slogan makes “no reference whatsoever to the quality of the vehicles’ door handles.” It’s merely an “exaggerated and generalized claim” that any “reasonable consumer” would recognize as such. Gotta love it when a court ruling takes a less than subtle jab at the plantiff.

Amazingly enough, this isn’t the first time somebody has sued over Ford’s legendary tagline. In 2010, a Colorado court made the same ruling regarding the “Built Ford Tough” and “Quality is Job #1” slogans. The District of Colorado found the same determination regarding Chevy’s “Like a Rock” tagline. But we’d bet some 700,000 Silverado and Sierra owners might disagree with that one.

Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.