September 1, 2005
Noise Free America
For immediate release
Contact:
Ted Rueter
877-NOISE-NO
[email protected]
Madison: Ford Motor Company has won this month’s Noisy Dozen award from Noise Free America for introducing a 1,000-watt 10-speaker stereo system with two subwoofers as standard equipment in its 2006 Ford Mustang. Ford is now marketing noise and thuggery.
Ford says that the new Mustang “sounds as good as it looks,” and is designed for “the customer who just can’t get enough sound.” The Shaker 1000 “adds two trunk mounted subwoofers and an additional 500 watts of amplifier to exclimate the thump of the door-mounted subwoofers,” to produce “unmatched audio performance and capability.”
According to Ford, Mustang’s “bad boy image” is enhanced by its “intimidating attitude,” “dominating performance,” and “an all-American V-8 growl that grabs the attention of onlookers.” Ford describes the obnoxious noise produced by the Mustang as “the classic throaty engine sound.”
Auto Spectator, an industry magazine, states gleefully that the Ford Mustang, “with its 300 horsepower engine,” finds itself “in rare company with its 1,000-watt audio system. Only a handful of factory audio systems are capable of this kind of output.”
Ted Rueter, Noise Free America’s director, stated that “Ford has now joined the ranks of the violent boom car subculture, offering the same violent imagery and destructive product. Pioneer Electronics uses the slogan, ‘Disturb, Defy, Disrupt, Ignite’ to promote its boom car equipment. JBL blusters, ‘Either we love bass or hate your neighbors.’ Lightning Audio crows, “Lethal Assault.” Ford Motor Company has made America’s streets meaner and its culture more vulgar.”
In addition, said Rueter, Ford has made the nation even louder and unhealthier: “Excessive noise causes hearing loss. It causes sleep deprivation. It causes headaches and depression and tinnitus. Noise is destroying many American communities. It is shameful that the Ford Motor Company is now a member of the noise-industrial complex, promoting noise and violence.”
Noise Free America is a citizens group opposed to noise pollution. Past “winners” of the Noisy Dozen Award include Echo Manufacturing, Pioneer Electronics, and Congressman Darrell Issa. Noise Free America’s website is http://noisefree.org.