One would think that after Disney’s disastrous foray into the nation’s political controversies, companies would have learned their lesson. At first glance, they seemed to have learned their lesson, since many large corporations refused to respond in any way on the leaked SCOTUS opinion regarding abortion. Ford Motor Company released an ad on May 1, in which it attacked Tesla founder Elon Musk and the future CEO of Twitter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdzGsdgsg10
Although the ad doesn’t reference Musk directly, it’s quite clear who Ford is referring to. The narrator sounds righteous and savage.
At the moment, it might seem that the only people who really matter are the loudest. They are those who will tear down everything and fly off on their own spaceships whenever things get difficult. But we’ve got 182,000 people and they’re building.
The ad is available on YouTube now, but will first hit the national airwaves during this weekend’s Kentucky Derby, according to tech news site Gizmodo.
What’s odd about the commercial is that Elon Musk isn’t known for tearing things down; he’s known for building them. He also founded SpaceX, Tesla, and X.com. Later, PayPal was created. He is the current richest person in the world, with a record of accomplishments that is unmatched. Tesla, which accounts for 75 percent of America’s electric vehicle market in 2022, is the best-known and most successful manufacturer.
By contrast, Ford‘s take was only 2.5 percent, and the company reportedly lost $3.1 billion in the first quarter of this year. This is not a good place to take potshots.
It’s unclear why Ford thinks now is a good time to go after Musk. After all, we’ve seen other disastrous marketing campaigns, including Gillette’s insane attempt to sell their razors by tying all men into the #metoo movement and questioning “toxic masculinity”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koPmuEyP3a0
Marketing department note: Know your target audience. “The Best a Man Can Get” was actually a pretty good campaign; the “Best a Man Can Be” by contrast was one of the all-time worst.
Gillette lost $8 million after the ad was widely criticized. Gillette’ s parent company Procter & Gamble (P&G) blamed the loss on currency fluctuations and “market contraction.” (We believe you, P&G.)
The reaction to this Ford commercial seems mostly negative. These are just a few comments that were made on the YouTube channel which aired the commercial:
- I was 3 weeks from buying a new Bronco… Elon Musk seems like a good man, maybe I’m wrong.
- The ad doesn’t lift your builders. Ford can accomplish great things while not attacking anyone else. I’ve driven an F150 for years and I do NOT like the negative nature of this ad. America is open to all ideas. It is healthy to compete.
- I own two newer Fords (New Ranger and Newer Escape EV)and this ad is very disappointing – why attack another great US innovator? If it wasn’t for Elon, Ford probably wouldn’t be making their so/so quality EV’s. I am tempted to purchase a Tesla because of this ad. Ford, you can do better – please reconsider this ad. You can’t make positive vibes for your products by negatively attacking others for their success! You might consider creating an Ad that mentions you’re building Tesla technology from your own. Instead of kicking him in his knees, stand on his shoulders! Very poor choice – probably the last Fords I will own if this keeps up. Extremely disappointed.
- Attacking another innovator is not the way to make your business look good…Coming from a family of ford owners. I’m not happy with the tone of this ad.
- We are grateful for your ad. You are showing you are “woke” which has simplified my life. I will never buy another Ford product.
It’s hard to imagine what Ford hopes to gain from this ad. Are they going after Musk because he’s buying Twitter, and the wokesters are upset? Many are praising Musk at the moment, but there’s also many of his fans. Ford simply told them to hike. Or maybe they’re simply jealous that Tesla is kicking their behinds in the EV market?
Disney and Gillette discovered the hard way that you can’t wake up unless you are broke. This new Ford ad hasn’t yet brought the same level of controversy (as I noted, it officially airs this weekend), but I doubt it will bring Ford any new customers either. I drive a Ford Explorer, and when it’s time to trade it in… I’m certainly now going to think twice.
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