The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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By Jennifer Faull, Deputy Editor

October 8, 2013 | 2 min read

Ron Burgundy has been announced as the new brand spokesman for Chrysler’s Dodge Durango.

The irreverent character played by Will Ferrell from hit film Anchorman has starred in a series of TV ads and short online films touting the high-tech features of Chrysler’s latest model.

According to Ron, the glove compartment “comfortably fits two turkey sandwiches, six ball-peen hammers, 70 packs of gum..." while the 360-horsepower engine is actually “360 times better than a horse".

"People think they already know the Durango, so then you have to be twice as engaging in a marketing campaign," Olivier Francois, Chrysler's chief marketing officer, told the Free Press. "What could be more engaging and entertaining … than to explain all of the new technology and features through the eyes of a guy who comes from the '70s?"

The ads were devised by Paramount, Ferrell and his production company — Funny or Die – as well as the brand’s ad agency Wieden+Kennedy.

The original agreement between Ferrell and Chrysler was for six ads, however in two days the group managed to film 70.

Some of the TV ads more suitable for a mass audience began airing in the US over the weekend, the rest will be posted on Dodge's YouTube Channel, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr. Ferrell's FunnyorDie.com will also host several of the clips.

"Some of these lines in the commercials are so incredibly memorable that my hope is that they become part of the Anchorman culture," Francois said.

The deal comes ahead of the film’s sequel, ‘Anchorman: 2, The Legend Continues,’ due to hit cinemas from December 20.

Chrysler Anchorman Ron Burgandy

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