The practice of
aligning your own product with another cool device is nothing new. Check out this ad for the Ford Fusion. It starts, oddly enough, with a full-on shot
of an iPod. Some sort of odd "bubbles" float out of the iPod, through the air and eventually into the Fusion,
as if to say, "Watch as the iPod's 'coolness' is transferred into our car." It's Ford's intention to reach that coveted 25-35 year old demographic with the spot, and "...[it] plays into that generation's love of technology and their love of music. Also, the iPod is so iconic that people stop to watch the ad," says Linda Perry-Lube, car communications manager for Ford. So now the iPod itself is being used to sell other items. As Slate notes, " [that's] because people think it's a new iPod ad."
So, what's the effect on you, the consumer? Does the Fusion seem cooler, or does the iPod seem less so having been pawned out like this?
[Via AdJab]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-01-2006 @ 4:15PM
greedo said...
i thought it was an ipod commercial too. that brilliant brendon benson song sells it.
then i realize they tricked me into watching a ford commercial and I get mad and spite them. stupid ford.
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2-01-2006 @ 4:15PM
philip said...
if ford were called pontiac and the fusion renamed solstice, i'd go out and buy one immediately. what's up with most of the commercial being about every product except a car? the bubbles look like that diet coke commercial.
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2-01-2006 @ 4:16PM
Steven said...
Why didn't they use the iPod (with video)?
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2-01-2006 @ 4:28PM
Will said...
What I don't understand is why they did this when Ford is conspicuously missing from this list:
http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipodyourcar/
I mean really, if you're going to try to associate with the iPod's cool factor, shouldn't you be able to offer an OEM solution for integration with said cool-factor object?
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2-01-2006 @ 4:33PM
Ben said...
I think it's stupid, the Fusion doesn't even have iPod support built in!
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2-01-2006 @ 4:36PM
JC said...
LOL Hello and welcome to 3 months ago! HA
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2-01-2006 @ 4:36PM
David said...
I've seen this ad and it had the desired effect of making me watch it once when I would ordinarily have skipped past it. I don't think it made the iPod any less cool, but it made the car look like a lame wannabe.
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2-01-2006 @ 4:37PM
Will said...
Damn. Sorry. Link busted. Shouldn't have ended with a slash.
http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipodyourcar
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2-01-2006 @ 4:43PM
Justin said...
Her name is Linda Perry-Lube. Glad that "Perry" is in there.
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2-01-2006 @ 4:45PM
Michael Kalus said...
I think the Fusion would be cool if it would be fusion driven or at least a Hybrid.
Missmarketing, that they try to "hijack" the iPod isn't really too surprising.
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2-01-2006 @ 5:13PM
Andrew Eller said...
Can the term "sex sells" now be replaced by "iPod sells"? Everyone knows that the easiest way to draw attention to a product is to put it in the hands of a hot model, I think Ford is replicating that strategy, but with an iPod instead.......
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2-01-2006 @ 5:40PM
Montecore the Tiger said...
Pft. Just another example in the trend of useless posts that I've noticed on TUAW for the past month or so. Damn shame you guys nixed quality for quantity.
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2-01-2006 @ 6:30PM
Mac Diva said...
I think the key is that the ad gets to use the word "innovation," which is considered Apple's hallmark because of the iPod. Ford gets to a companion in "innovation."
I must agree with Montecore to an extent. The ad isn't even new. TUAW doesn't need more bloggers, or more entries, it needs better ideas.
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2-01-2006 @ 9:13PM
Pieter Ouwerkerk said...
This ad WAS really popular, around the holidays. Then, I thought it was a Best-Buy ad, since theres more about innovative gadgets, than there is about cars.
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