Ford recently launched a new viral marketing campaign at BFTRules.com. It’s a spoof on the TV show COPS, except the “cops” in this case are members of “BFT” - or Built Ford Tough. They have 10 rules that Ford truck owners have to follow:

1) NO ROLLER LUGGAGE
2) NO SCOOTERS
3) NO PUNY DOGS
4) NO MEAT SUBSTITUTES
5) NO PINK SHIRTS
6) NO FANCY COFFEE
7) NO FANNY PACKS
8) NO CUTESY CELL PHONE RINGS
9) NO MANICURES
10) NO HAIR PRODUCTS

They’ve created videos for “No Manicures”, “No Pink Shirts” and “No Fancy Coffee”, and they’re actually pretty funny: Continue Reading…

Yes, Ford is jumping on the “design them for the kids” bandwagon with the new Verve Concept. This new design trend of small cars with high-tech gizmos, premium (looking) materials, futuristic design, and an overall “cool-factor” was started by Toyota’s Scion division. It seems the huge success of Scion has eventually caught the eye on other manufacturers, now including Ford. The small car trend is also being heavily pushed by rising gas prices, which are also sparking a lot of sales for crossovers.

The Verve is set to launch in the States in 2010 with this four-door model, and possibly the European 3-door version, depending on public reaction, which has so far been been at the better end of “meh.” Continue Reading…

As one would expect, Ford is making a Bullitt version of its current iteration of the venerable Mustang.

As an adopted San Franciscan, I feel that it is incumbent upon me to let you know and discuss this with you.

For those of you that don’t know, Bullitt, was a movie produced in 1968 and starred the late, and occasionally great, Steve McQueen as a hard-nosed, straight shooting San Francisco cop by the name of Frank Bullitt (pretty macho name, huh?) who gets involved in a murder case and departmental corruption.

Overall, it’s a pretty good police yarn, and The City, as always, comes off as cool and beautiful as it is in real life.

But the real set piece, the bit of the movie that everyone remembers, is the chase scene: Continue Reading…

OK, so there’s been a lot of buzz over the past while concerning the new upcoming version of Knight Rider. Thankfully, they are only re-doing it as a TV series, and not trying to make it into a mediocre movie, and, as with everything widespread and hyped these days, there’s good news, and there’s bad news.

The good news is that the series will be largely Hasselhoff free.

The bad news, if you’re a Pontiac fan and/or a traditionalist, is that K.I.T.T. (that would be The Knight Rider’s car, for those of you who don’t know) is going to be a new Ford Shelby GT500KR Mustang.

Now look, I’ve got nothing against this move, per se. I actually like the latest iteration of the Mustang, and I’m sure the latest Shelby treatment is just as potent as all the other ones (except for that hideous Mustang II Cobra, the less said about that, the better), but for the series to, essentially, “change brands” is always a tricky move to pull off. Continue Reading…

Ford is getting ready to release a (sort of) special edition package for the Shelby GT500. It’s called the Red Stripe Appearance Package, costs $1650, features red stripes, and…well, that’s it. $1650 for nothing more than red stripes? Hmm…

Ridiculous price aside, the choice might actually be worth it, since this will be the rarest color combination available for the GT500. You can get the stripes on either a black or white car, and I must say, the red stripes on black looks really good.

Continue Reading…

Ford came out with some really cool billboards for the Mustang. The first time I saw this, I assumed the pictures were just taken at the right angle, and wouldn’t look right from any other angle. Turns out the billboards are made from a semi-transparent Lexan. That way no matter what time of day, season, or weather, it blurs the background to convey a sense of speed. Cool, isn’t it?

Go here to check out the ads: Ford Billboards