In a move that was deemed “purely coincidental,” Ford Motor Company recently revealed that the new Bronco will be unveiled to the public on July 9. July 9 just happens to be O.J. Simpson’s 73rd birthday and… yeah.
https://twitter.com/Ford/status/1271880051106160642?s=20
The Bronco SUV has been synonymous with O.J. since 1994, when he rode in a Bronco on a slow speed chase after defying an arrest warrant for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Ford discontinued the SUV in 1996, claiming dwindling popularity and not the connection with an accused murderer.
Nevertheless, Ford is bringing back the vehicle after nearly 25 years and it’s already bringing back memories of its infamous connection.
Despite that, Ford is pressing on with their July 9 reveal date. Mike Levine, Ford North America product communications manager, told the Detroit Free Press, “We’re going to reveal Bronco just like we said we would on July 9,” and that its reveal falling on Simpson’s birthday was “purely coincidental.”
Surely, not too many people mark it in their calendar when its O.J. Simpson’s birthday, but that might have been something for Ford to search online and make sure that the date they choose for their car reveal doesn’t revolve around the person that is not only most connected to that SUV but someone who Ford probably doesn’t want a connection with to this day.
I guess there’s a 1 in 365 chance this coincidence could happen. Ford was lucky not to wait a few days and reveal the reveal date on Wednesday because June 17, 1994 was the date of the police chase. And then Ford would have really needed to explain that unlikely occurrence.
[UPDATE 6/19] After four days since this became a story, Ford VP of Communications Mark Truby revealed that Ford will instead reveal the new Bronco on July 13.
UPDATE: The reveal of the all-new Ford Bronco lineup will now happen on Monday, July 13. The previous targeted date of July 9 unintentionally coincided with O.J. Simpson’s birthday. We wanted to be sensitive and respectful of this concern.
— Mark Truby (@mtruby) June 19, 2020
[Detroit Free Press/Photo: Al Schaben/Los Angeles Times]
About Phillip Bupp
Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.
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