During Farm Equipment’s coverage of CNH’s brand restructuring, an exec commented that the industry’s pace of news must be good for our business. There’s no shortage of things to write about in “interesting times.”
As “interesting” goes, I’ll share what hit my desk this week while on deadline for our most anticipated edition of the year. This story begins on March 6, when an ad agency for an unnamed client made an unsolicited inquiry into advertising in Farm Equipment.
The date would prove significant.
Exactly 30 days later, court filings showed John Deere settled its Right to Repair suit. Filed in 2022, the R2R complaint placed Deere in the crosshairs for alleged violations that benefited the OEM and its servicing dealers.
The so-called windfall that the Public Interest Research Group and others promised comes at a cost to the entire industry. Not the attorneys; no, they’ll grab fees equal to 33% of the settlement, as stated, and on top of drawing out another $6 million in expenses…
Terms of the Deal
On April 6, myriad resources reported that Deere poured $99 million into a class action fund to make the matter go away. You can read the settlement, and other curated content, at Farm-Equipment.com/JDsettlement
After an unusual turn of events this week, I called my attorney friend to brush up on class-action processes and lingo. He explained that Deere’s $99 million is sunk, that it results in no admission of wrongdoing or precedent, and that the cash gets distributed to court-approved class members. Distributed, that is, AFTER hefty administrative and legal fees.
The ad inquiry, we guess, was meant to recruit buyers of green iron, and to add to the billable hours. Leveraging ad buyers and the trade media to “chase the ambulance” might be another way to say it.
I’m not re-opening the case (our consistent and curated coverage is detailed online, much of compiled by our Kim Schmidt) nor offering observations on those claiming to serve the interest of the plaintiffs.
The so-called windfall that PIRG and others promised comes at a cost to the entire industry. No, not the attorneys; they’ll grab fees equal to 33% of the settlement, as stated, and on top of drawing out another $6 million in expenses.
Timeline of Events
The inquiry to advertise came on March 6, before the still-wet ink was in the court’s hands. My son, Drew (account manager), responded without knowledge of any of the motives, details or parties. Little happened until June 17 when he discovered (while at his Army base awaiting deployment) that it was a class action suit and they were ready to book the space.
A request to see the campaign’s content resulted in a terse forwarding of the filed settlement doc. I called the agency on June 22 and told him the order was declined.
Motives Questioned?
He wasn’t happy, and remarked that I was kowtowing to John Deere, “surely our biggest advertiser.”
Far from it, I told him. John Deere has contributed exactly 0.001% of our ad revenues since we acquired FE, and the corporate office keeps us at arm’s length most of the time (that’s another column for another day). Like every ag business nowadays, we need the support to continue what we do. Still, it wasn't difficult to say no.
The ad buyer was aware of FE’s influence. Yet in the march to spend the money, he didn’t seem concerned that an audience comprised of dealers wouldn’t meet desired aims. He politely argued every point until we agreed to disagree.
The 13 logged email exchanges meant billable hours on top of whatever spending they could’ve made had we been willing. Keeping the wheel turning in admin duties is one way to pad an already hefty piece of the action.
Next time (which will come again with paydays like this), the check-writers could attempt qualifying conditions that move farmers forward and without division -- and keep it in the family. Education and mentoring on farm management, how to transition to conservation or guidance on succession planning. Or land/equipment financing, benchmarking tours or rural broadband.
We’d be happy to discuss and engage on those things. Collecting a few bucks to pad the wallets of attorneys, well, not so much…
