Bryan Cranston delivers a love letter to blue collar America in W+K’s first work for Ford
Wieden+Kennedy New York has unveiled its first campaign as Ford’s official innovation partner – a cinematic, capitalist tribute to American manufacturing that pokes fun at Silicon Valley’s penchant for talking in platitudes.
Bryan Cranston stars in the latest from Ford
W+K was appointed to the brief back in August while the brand’s creative agency review was ongoing. Last week the network was announced as Ford’s official innovation partner, while Omnicom's BBDO scooped lead creative in a blow to WPP.
W+K’s debut is of blockbuster proportions, starring Hollywood movie star Bryan Cranston in a multitude of cinematic scenarios. He appears as an omnipotent tech guru, a politician, a Nasa scientist and even a robot.
Throughout the film he explains that humanity’s future has never been created by ideas, or by talking, but through welding, construction and building.
“Let the other guys keep dreaming about the future,” he concludes, driving through the desert. “We’ll be the ones building it.”
The multichannel campaign’s premise is captured in its tagline: ‘Built Ford Proud’. Its central spot, ‘The Future is Built’, is accompanied by two additional films: a country and western ode to trucking and a 30-second exploration of Ford’s blue oval logo.
'Built Ford Proud' also seems to give a nod to the long-running series of fast-talking 'Built Ford Tough' television spots to promote its line of pickup trucks. The company had announced back in April that it looked to phase out manufacturing of its sedans for its SUV and truck lines.
The campaign will also run across print and digital, launching this weekend (20 October) and continuing to run throughout 2019.
Joy Falotico, Ford’s group vice president and chief marketing officer, said: "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. That’s at the heart of this campaign."
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