Pulling on the time originally planned to promote its new F-150 pickup, Ford Motor Co. will launch a national advertising campaign on New Year’s Day asking Americans to “end hard” in the battle against Covid-19 wearing masks and taking other scientifically recognized measures to reduce the spread of the disease.
Produced by Peter Berg, the Hollywood director known for films like “Patriots Day”, and narrated by “Breaking Bad” actor Bryan Cranston, the 30-second commercial will air during the first three days of 2021 during the college championship and NFL games, while backing up an expansive social media campaign.
The goal is to get the policy out of the discussion, said Jim Baumbick, Ford’s vice president for enterprise product line management, strategy and planning, and who helped oversee the automaker’s production of masks, face shields and fans early in the pandemic. .
“The underlying premise is that we are not defenseless,” Baumbick said on Wednesday during a video conference. “The result is not predetermined. There are things you can do to save lives. “
As the year draws to a close, more than 340,000 Americans have died from Covid-19, with more than 19 million infected.
“The result is not predetermined. There are things you can do to save lives. “
Like its rivals across the city, Ford was involved in pandemic control and treatment efforts from the beginning. To date, it has produced 55 million masks and millions of face shields and medical scrubs. It also produced equipment for hospitals, including 32,000 respirators.
“We feel that we have a reliable voice to deliver this message because we are a reliable company and we put our money where our mouth is,” said Mark Truby, Ford’s head of communications.
But the real challenge now, Ford officials said, is to get Americans to leave politics behind and see the need to “work together” by taking measures that can slow the spread of the virus until enough Americans are vaccinated to achieve the level of collective immunity.