THE man who enraged atheists worldwide with a deeply insulting ad he created for a Californian Ford dealership – and in the process put a sizeable dent in Ford’s reputation – has ‘outed’ himself.
Said J W Horne, a self-confessed heterosexual:
For those of you who have been desperately searching for my real identity, here it is. I am a husband, father and grandfather. I served in the US Army and am proud of that. I own several businesses and [am] a true believer in the word of the Almighty God. If that offends you then thats tough. If you are a non-believer what do you think will happen to your soul when you die?
He adds:
I own an advertising agency named ” American Multimedia Services. We specialize in audio/video production for a variety of business and industries. Among our clients are automobile dealers, manufacturers, communication entities, sports franchises, construction companies, sales and distribution companies and more… Our website is amservusa.com.
Anyone who wants to know about me and my business is welcome to visit the website and explore it for you hearts content … Everyone is welcome to visit the website and use the contact points at the bottom of the first page if you wish. Any legitimate contact will be treated with respect and a prompt reply.
Because some of you respondents have crossed the line, I will issue this word of warning. Any attempt to be destructive, abusive or intimidating will not be tolerated. I have already reported some of you to the proper authorities. They have informed me that two have been identified and are now on a watch list. If you think you can hide behind the proxy servers and remain invisible and completely anonymous, you are mistaken.
J W Horne explained his motivation for the ad, which told atheists to “sit down and shut up”.
I wanted to get the attention of the 86 percent of Americans who say they believe in God. That includes Jewish Americans, Muslim Americans and Christians. I wanted to gauge their response. The ones who chose to be a part of the 14 percent spoke first. Calls were loud, vulgar and profane. After a few days, the believers started to contact the client. The positive calls and emails were far greater in number than the loud obnoxious ones.
The majority woke up and responded … I wrote the ad and produced it to get the attention of the believers. It is as simple as that. It worked and the atheists helped. Thanks.
PS. My relationship with the dealership is as strong as ever. Be sure to be listening for more ads.
To which Anna Lemma, of the excellent Underground Unbeliever blog retorted:
J W Horne, you stated in the ad that 86 percent of Americans were Christians, who believe in God, and those are the people who are allowed to state their opinions in your perfect, Christian America. All others need to ‘sit down and shut up’. Well, you are incorrect in your figures. It’s closer to 73 percent identify as Christian, and about 10 percent identify as atheist or agnostic, with the remaining identifying as Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, New Age, etc.
You refer to a minority as if we are second class citizens and placed your phone number on your blog, and now act surprised that you received a lot of calls? Poor, oppressed baby.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
