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.
[Images: Ford Motor Co.]
Is that a rear-projection TV on top of the dash? What will they think of next?
Death to touch screens.
>:O
This vehicle is aimed for someone who’s older than 55 years old and doesn’t want a Corvette when they retire.
I see skidmarks from donuts in the second photo. Is it making pink tire smoke, with black marks? Mind.Blown.
I take it you haven’t seen the gender-reveal videos.
Best listened to with this soundtrack:
youtube.com/watch?v=beL0ADOVNRM
That’s pretty funny.
:-)
Didn’t that happen to him in the Civil War too?
This viewer saw the ad and thought that Lincoln should start drug testing its employees.
His Lincoln commercials are terrible!
Speaking of Breaking Bad, wouldn’t Bryan Cranston make a better spokesman?
And leave me hanging on the McConaughey saga?!
All Ford needs to do is to keep pushing the envelope with these ads. More surreal. More Matthew.
Personally I’m all for batsh!t crazy, I’m just not sure it works. Maybe we can squeeze Malcolm McDowell as Alex DeLarge in somehow? Perhaps Nicholson can break through a sedan window and yell “Here’s Johnny!”? On a Kubrick kick don’t mind me…
Naw, Walter White was a Mopar guy.
Youtu.be/_V0LZdFPVTs
Loved that 300 SRT8.
The creators of Malcolm in the Middle, another show in which Cranston played a leading role, seemed to like Mopars.
-Hal, Cranston’s character, drives a first-gen ChryCo minivan throughout the entirety of the series
-The family’s second car is a Dodge Dynasty
-Malcolm, the show’s titular character, buys an old Barracuda as his first car
-The boys take advantage of Hal’s vulnerability in one episode and convince him to buy them stuff so that they’ll remember him when he dies. Malcolm has him in a showroom, coming within inches of signing the papers on a new Crossfire SRT6 roadster before Lois (his wife) stops him
-Lois wins a truck in one of those “stay touching the car the longest” contests at a shopping mall. The car is a then-new 2006-ish Dodge Dakota.
The only cars that get destroyed in the show are not Mopars:
-Hal pukes in a new Porsche Boxster. The boys then proceed to completely total it by dropping a cart of paint on it from the roof
-A flashback scene shows the oldest boy, Francis, standing in front of a car that’s on fire, making excuses (this scene is to demonstrate how bad he is). It’s some sort of 80s Ford wagon, possibly a Country Squire
-Lois and Hal steal a Chevelle SS that has been terrorizing the neighborhood. After driving far, far away and having wild sex in it, they push it into a lake
-Lois gets into a fit of rage with another woman during the holidays and the two of them create a miniature demolition derby in a store parking lot, destroying both their cars. Lois is driving a first-generation Taurus; the other woman is driving a 1994-1998 Mustang. Hal is also seen driving this car in one episode, where it’s shown not to work reliably, necessitating it being pulled down the street by a team of bodybuilders with rope, like an ox-and-wagon.
-Francis accidentally blows up his truck while on the job. It’s an old Ranger.
Wouldn’t it be more realistic if they showed him getting yet another recall taken care of?
Maybe they will for their next Nautilus or Navigator spot.
Anything is better than the Chevrolet `real people`ads.
Remember the “grounded to the ground” Camry ad?
Not the Toyota ads with “Jan” signing ear-shrillingly bad country music.
I never saw a signing version.
“Just look at it!”
Okaaay. What am I supposed to see?
Pink haze, all in my brain
Lately things they don’t seem the same
Actin’ funny, but I don’t know why
Excuse me while I kiss the sky
Pink haze, all around
Don’t know if I’m comin’ up or down
Am I happy or in misery?
What ever it is, that Lincoln put a spell on me
Cute .
-Nate
McConaughey looks like a fool in the Lincoln ads. I would think it would prevent people from buying them.
Man, you envy him, you certainly do. Deep inside you fight your dreams. Just relax, buy it, make your dreams reality. What would you do if you were Matthew McConaughey?
SNL lost the plot years ago in my opinion, but every now and then they come up with a something worth a few replays. The Jim Carrey Lincoln parody ads were pretty funny.
https://youtu.be/z3eN9u5N2Q4
It is not a pink mist – it is a purple haze – the big difference:
Maybe the ad is for the Chinese market too and was filmed in Beijing at rush hour? :^)
I keep getting older and these commercials keep staying weird.
Another recall is another drive to the dealer.
Very appropriate, driving through pink mist is a good representation of Matthew McConaughey’s though process.
Can’t talk right now – gotta rush out and purchase a Lincoln based on the extremely clear messaging in this spot.
(Performance vehicle – 494 HP – but different than other performance vehicles – because – because why again?)
The Cadillac XT6 ads are better for the demographic.
I hope “The Power of Sanctuary” is not Lincoln’s new official tagline. That is horrible. I can live with it for a tagline for the individual model, but that’s it.
Need to go back to “American Luxury”, fits into this time well and its been so long since its been used few will remember it.
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.
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.