Wieden+Kennedy London’s new commercial for the Ford Ranger Plug-in Hybrid is full of car advertising cliches – the long, winding road, the power torture test…But wait, it takes them to delightfully absurd extremes.
The film, More Power. Just in Case., celebrates the joy of being over-prepared. The narration gets carried away with scenarios that swing from the epic to the ridiculous, while the visuals show the Ranger taking on everything from brutal terrain to larger-than-life challenges – from towing hay bales and powering plug-in saws to towing UFOs in an Area 51-esque hangar and powering plug-in laser cannons.
The commercial, directed by Tim Godsall, with cinematography by award-winning DoP, Nicolas Karakatsanis, launches Europe’s first hybrid pickup for Ford’s commercial vehicles division, Ford Pro.
Celebrating that the hybrid vehicle has more torque than any other Ranger model, including the diesel V6, and the ability to export electricity to almost any power tool imaginable, the campaign aims to shatter preconceptions about the power capabilities of hybrid vehicles.
The UK campaign is running across VOD, digital, and DOOH; and will roll out shortly across Europe.
Richard Beard, marketing and communications manager, Ford Pro, commented, “Bringing Europe’s first hybrid pick-up to market is a big moment, and it had to feel worthy of the Ranger name. More Power, Just in Case shows exactly what the Ranger PHEV stands for: all the capability you expect, with more power and no compromise.”
David Colman, group creative director and Alex Sattlecker, creative director at Wieden+Kennedy London, stated, “The Ranger PHEV is Europe’s first hybrid pickup, with more power than you’ll probably ever need. We had fun with that idea. The VO gets carried away reeling off what the truck could do, before catching himself. It felt like the perfect way to capture the joy of being over-prepared. Huge thanks to the Ford Pro team for backing such a playful approach, and to Tim Godsall for bringing it all to life with so much character and craft.”
