Ford's Bowled Moves
We have a rule in my house: no sugar cereal until you eat your "good" cereal. By the time the girls have inhaled a bowl of non-sweetened Cheerios, Weetabix or Rice Krispies, their appetite for kiddy crack is destroyed or diminished. Of course, that doesn't stop the bun fight over any promotional toy that dares hide at the bottom of the box. I reckon a Ford marketing maven saw his kids ripping apart a box of Sky High Blood Sugar Flakes to get at a wind-up plastic spaceship and thought "Why can't adults display the same animal enthusiasm for a Ford Fusion?" A promotion was born. On Sunday, parents who buy their Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks, Frosted Flakes or Cocoa Krispies from Target will find a free Ford Fusion Hot Wheels model inside. I rang up FoMoCo's point man Monte Doran to get the skinny on childhood obesity– I mean whether Ford will slap cash on the hood if the models don't move by September. No seriously, I wanted to know if this was the beginning of a shift away from traditional marketing. Hey, if you don't ask…
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I wonder if the advertising genius who thought up this idea realizes Target sponsors the #41 DODGE in NASCAR - and Kellogg's sponsors the #5 CHEVY. They're both strange partners for a Ford promotion.
Well, to 12voltguy, maybe you should get your money back. In regard to negativity, Mr Doran actually held up really well to the interview. R. Farago is a good interviewer, asks all the good questions, keeps his interviewee on his toes. Where else can you get the marketing guy's interview? They usually hide behind their advertizing dollars used to soften the big car mag's reviews. It's the truth about cars. Truth hurts, get over it. I'm actually looking forward to more material from R. Farago, he's the one with the most bite.
Hmmm, perhaps they'll get luckier than with the Fusion speed dating event they held a while back. Notice there was no mention of it in the "cars you'd be most likely to..." discussion?
Maybe it should be 'Ford's Boweled Moves'...