READY, SET, RECALL.

Editor's Note: This week, Peter delivers the High-Octane Truth about Ford's new advertising campaign. In On The Table, we take another look at Ferrari's new - and spectacular - 849 Testarossa. Our AE Song of the Week is "Goodbye Stranger" by Supertramp. In Fumes, we have Part III of Peter's series on his all-time favorite racing cars. And in The Line, we have MotoGP results from San Marino. Onward! -WG

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. It’s not often that a major auto manufacturer launches a new global brand advertising campaign. And the reason for this is that manufacturers traditionally view the money needed for a brand campaign as superfluous and wasteful, especially in a land dominated by a “How much is that a month?” retail environment.

Needless to say, for marketing minions at the auto companies, it’s an extremely tough sell to get a new brand campaign off of the ground. But that doesn’t mean they don’t try.

The latest auto manufacturer to attempt it? Ford. The Dearborn automaker hasn’t launched a new brand campaign since 2012, and upon seeing this new attempt - titled “Ready, Set, Ford” – perhaps they should have waited another thirteen years or so.

That the spot is tedious right out of the gate is no surprise. It is filled with action shots, forced human “lifestyle” involvement, pseudo off-road adventure and the like. It is an old, recycled story, full of sound and fury, signifying not much.

The spot ends with a quote by founder Henry Ford: "Someone once said, 'Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.'" Then, the words Ready, Set, Ford appear on the screen.

Wow. Not exactly breakthrough stuff by any means, but I’m not surprised, because the current Ford CEO is notorious for not having a golden gut when it comes to advertising. In fact, he royally sucks at anything to do with marketing and advertising. That said, the current Global Chief Marketing Officer for Ford, Lisa Materazzo, dutifully presented the rationale behind the campaign to the Detroit Free Press, suggesting that the spot is more than just advertising, that it is meant to convey to the world Ford's shift from a product-first to a human-first company that emphasizes aspects of Ford beyond its vehicles, showing how Ford fits various lifestyles. (And they needed a new ad campaign to do this? The constant stream of recalls has been conveying "Ford's shift from a product-first company" for years!)

Fitting various lifestyles. Wow. Again, breakthrough stuff. Not.

For further emphasis, Materazzo said, "What we want to do is orient toward our consumers. We want to speak more directly to our consumers and the role that Ford can play in their lives, rather than making a declarative statement about Ford," Materazzo said. "We believe that ‘Ready, Set, Ford’ is an invitation, it’s a bit of a catalyst, to give consumers that spark and inspiration they need to tackle whatever lies ahead of them.”

Oh boy, as in, What in the Actual Fuck? That the spot is underwhelming and boring would be shocking if it didn’t come from Ford. (Watch it here – WG) 

This campaign will generate nothing but yawns from consumers. Nothing. It will pass them by like countless other car spots because there is no “there” there. It won’t make them sit up and take notice, not even momentarily.

The Dearborn-based automaker has been rumbling, bumbling and stumbling through various marketing campaigns for years. Again, the current CEO likes to be considered “The Man of All Things Ford” (while being “a genius,” just ask him), and this spot smacks of his piss-poor instincts and rudderless leadership when it comes to anything to do with marketing and advertising.

In being the good soldier in all of this, Materazzo was given the task of trying to rationalize a perfectly uninspiring take on the current state of Ford, but it rings hollow and frankly, of desperation.

Let’s face it, almost every automaker in the world could run this campaign (except for the luxury automakers who wouldn’t be caught dead anywhere near this slop). In fact, if you pay attention, you can see snippets of this spot and interpretations of the same scenes in countless other car ads currently running. There is nothing distinctive about this spot, nothing that suggests a powerful new message for the Ford brand that actually differentiates it from the rest of the car companies out there.

Ford operatives might think that this campaign can sway some consumers to think that there’s something going on at Ford that doesn’t have anything to do with recalls, but let’s be real, this campaign doesn’t move that needle in the least.

Let’s just say it’s a giant missed opportunity and until further notice, it means that Ford will continue to be the “Ready, Set, Recall” car company.

And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.

Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG