Ford's manufacturing might in the spotlight of new ads
“Bulls & Bears” panel discusses how Ford’s new ad campaign took aim at rival automakers Tesla, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler.
Ford on Friday introduced a new ad campaign that spotlights the company’s 115-year history of building cars.
The “Built Ford Proud” campaign – a play on the company’s “Built Ford Tough” slogan associated with its popular pickup trucks – also emphasizes Ford’s work on new technologies such as self-driving cars.
“Talk doesn’t get things done. Building does,” actor Bryan Cranston says in a 60-second ad featuring images of Ford’s manufacturing facilities. “Let the other guys keep dreaming about the future. We’ll be the ones building it.”
The ad also harkens back to the Apollo program. Philco, a subsidiary of Ford at the time, designed and built NASA’s mission control in Houston in the 1960s.
“A presidential speech did not land us on the moon. Millions of man hours did. They built their way there,” Cranston says.
The campaign, which includes several different ads, will debut this weekend during NCAA football games on Saturday. Ford said the ads will run through 2019 in broadcast, digital and print, as the automaker prepares to freshen up its lineup.
In 2019, Ford will launch updated F-Series Super Duty trucks, one year ahead of a redesigned F-150. Ford also plans to begin selling new Escape and Explorer SUVs and the midsize Ranger pickup next year, alongside the new Mustang GT500. The company has also teased the launch of an all-electric performance SUV coming in 2020.
“Every Ford employee I know comes to work each day proud to drive a Ford vehicle and to build great products, services and experiences for our customers,” said Joy Falotico, Ford group vice president and chief marketing officer. “That’s at the heart of this campaign.”
Under CEO Jim Hackett, Ford is undergoing a turnaround effort aimed at strengthening the company’s profitability and reallocating investments toward SUVs, trucks and new technologies.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | FORD MOTOR CO. | 10.96 | -0.07 | -0.68% |
Ford will ditch most of its passenger cars in the North American market, largely exiting a less profitable segment that has been plagued by weakening sales in the U.S. The Mustang is the only model currently remaining in Ford’s U.S. passenger car plans. Ford initially planned to ship the new Focus Active from China, but U.S. import tariffs drove the company to eliminate the crossover from its future lineup.
The ad campaign comes amid a renewed focus on U.S. manufacturing. President Trump has criticized automakers for making vehicles in Mexico, Europe and other global regions, threatening to impose tariffs on imports. Just weeks before Trump took office in 2017, Ford said it would no longer build a new factory in Mexico, a proposal that drew the candidate’s ire during the campaign.
Ford’s new slate of ads also comes after the company exchanged blows with Tesla after its CEO Elon Musk referred to the rival as a “morgue.” In response, Ford Vice President of Communications Mark Truby jabbed Tesla over a “makeshift tent” used to ramp up production of the Model 3, noting that a new F-150 truck rolls off the assembly line “every 53 seconds like clockwork.”