Lincoln's 'Fresh Take' Campaign Traps Matthew McConaughey Inside Pink Mist

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Ads for the 2020 Lincoln Aviator are scheduled to drop this Saturday, but those of us with internet access got to see them a day early. Lincoln’s “Fresh Take” campaign is a bit of a misnomer, however, because the person who’s chiming in on the new model is Matthew McConaughey.

Ford has used the Oscar-winning actor to showcase its premium products for years now, and this writer is not ashamed to say that he’s grown to love them. While not particularly substantive, they’re difficult to look away from. McConaughey muses about the vehicle in a calm, dreamlike haze. Occasionally looking into the rearview mirror before casually reapplying his attention to the always clear road ahead, he’s presumably talking to himself — but it’s really for our benefit.

And that’s why I’m so fond of them. In my mind, McConaughey is a polished lunatic — not quite a Patrick Bateman, but definitely unhinged. And it translates into comedy gold. Yet another viewer might see the ad and think, “Boy he’s handsome and calm — it’s like nothing is ever going to go wrong inside that car.”

It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to learn that the people creating these ads are totally aware of this dual nature and happily lean into it when manufacturing content. Remember the spot for the 2018 Lincoln Navigator? The dude literally stopped at an open railroad crossing and willed a freight train into existence. That’s some David Lynch-level stuff.

And while it’s probably insane to try and find a narrative in these ads, I have a loose theory that McConaughey’s character is that of a Lincoln salesman trapped inside his own dream. The more realistic scenario is that Ford just pays him a lot of money to act cool in the tranquil reality that has been built up around him and Lincoln’s various products. Either way, it’s still working.

The latest ad sees McConaughey silently piloting the Aviator through pink clouds produced by other manufacturers’ raucous sedans drifting around him. He’s not concerned as the voices inside his head passively acknowledges their existence, calling them “an amped-up, over-tuned feeding frenzy of sheet metal.”

He then pulls away to leave them behind, finding himself on a traffic-free highway. “Then there’s performance that just leaves you feeling better as a result,” he continues. “That’s the kind Lincoln’s about.”

Johan Renck, best known for directing music videos and a handful of episodes of Breaking Bad, helmed the filming. Production duties went to the NYC-based ad firm Hudson Rouge, while the music was performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

“We created an upfront scene that isn’t quite real,” said Jon Pearce, chief creative officer of Hudson Rouge, the company that produced the spot. “It’s picturesque, based in reality, but it represents this fray – a feeding frenzy of other brands’ obsessive focus on just performance.”

The campaign has already started making the rounds online and will make its first TV broadcast debut during the Notre Dame vs. New Mexico football game at 2:30 p.m. (ET) on NBC.

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Conundrum Conundrum on Sep 16, 2019

    Considering these vehicles are being reworked in their thousands at Flat Rock after being incorrectly and incompletely assembled in Chicago, I think the Pink Mist is Professor Moonbeam's breath after what we were told about Aviators and Explorers this past. Friday. Moonbeam just can't hack it.

  • HotPotato HotPotato on Sep 18, 2019

    For people of a certain experience set, pink mist suggests a suicide bombing outside. Maybe not the best idea. No matter how calmly Matthew McConaughey drives through the scene, musing aloud and rolling a booger between his fingers.

  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
  • Carson D The UAW has succeeded in organizing a US VW plant before. There's a reason they don't teach history in the schools any longer. People wouldn't make the same mistakes.
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