It's about the product, man! Ford refocusing Bold Moves ads

Ford's marketing push behind the "Bold Moves" taglines is one step away from becoming part of modern pop culture. We've been inundated with TV, print and web ads since the campaign began, and you've no doubt noticed the web-based documentary of the same name. FoMoCo executives can't even make it through a single speech without evoking the "Bold Moves" god before which they bow. Ford dealers, however, are reportedly not impressed by the campaign that from the beginning has focused itself on lifestyle messages. The best example of this is the Bold Moves television commercial that shows a young lady in a Fusion paying for her dry cleaning and "boldly" paying the bill for the guy in the Mustang behind her. Yes, Ford would have us believe that a bold move is paying for someone else's dry cleaning, and oh yeah, buy a Fusion and a Mustang while you're at it. Dealers have voiced their concern to Ford and the company is responding with a new round of ads that drops the lifestyle angle in favor of some hard facts about Ford's new vehicles, particularly its lineup for 2007. New ads will focus on the availability of all-wheel drive in the 2007 Fusion and new Ford Edge commercials are already in circulation that offer specific talking points on the product. Ford did, however, pay a lot of money for that dry cleaning ad and others like it and said it will continue running them, although you'll begin to see them less frequently as these new product-driven ads began to appear on the boob tube.

[Source: Amy Wilson / Automotive News - sub. required]