The industry front group Sport Utility Vehicle Owners of America [3] is striking back at a Christian-sponsored anti-SUV campaign that asked "What Would Jesus Drive? [4]" The Holland (MI) Sentinel reports that SUVOA, which has several hundred members, has created a $17,000 ad that asks, "What Would Jesus (Rivera) Drive?" According to the ad, Rivera drives an SUV because it gets him through the snow in winter, and his wife likes it because she can easily transport their grandchildren. "It's all about safety, utility and versatility. Maybe that's why they call them SUVs," the ad says. The pro-SUV group's president Jason Vines, a consultant with the public relations firm Stratacomm [5] and a former vice president of communications for Ford Motor Co., says the ad is part of SUVOA's membership drive [6].
SUVOA's website calls on SUV owners to sign a petition "asking anti-SUV extremists to stop their venomous attacks against SUVs and their owner." Meanwhile, the anti-SUV group Evangelical Environmental Network wraps up their 11-city "On the Road with What Would Jesus Drive" tour in Washington D.C. with meetings with lawmakers to discuss the "moral issues" surrounding SUVs.