Ford and Chrysler Address Fuel Efficiency in New Campaigns

Ford and Chrysler are both launching campaigns that acknowledge pain at the pump. Chrysler's is a dealer ad push highlighting the fuel efficiency of a range of cars and trucks under its three brands. Ford is promoting its 2008 Escape and Escape hybrid, both of which recently went on sale, with new campaigns that also bring Kermit the Frog as spokes-amphibian for the Escape Hybrid.

Ford launched a new TV spot for the gasoline version of Escape that promotes it for fuel efficiency without the sacrifice of small car. Although the hybrid version of Escape appears in the new spot, the two versions of the compact SUV are treated as separate brands, with different creative, messages and marketing strategies. Ford officials says, this is the first overtly fuel-conscious effort for the gasoline version of the Escape. "We are getting to $4 per gallon, so we wanted to emphasize the fact that Escape [both gasoline and hybrid] has great gas mileage."

The new ad, via JWT, Detroit, shows an utterly, desperately bored, nearly comatose guy going through a ritual of shopping and a car wash at a service station in a fuel-efficient, if nondescript sedan. He sees a gasoline version of the Escape full of exuberant, active young passengers. Voiceover: "You didn't buy your sedan for excitement. You bought it for gas mileage. But what if you could get all the mileage of a sedan, plus the excitement of an SUV?" The ad touts the Escape's 28 mpg, while showing it doing SUV-type activities and then finishes with a shot of the hybrid, with text highlighting its 34-mpg rating.

"What we are seeing in the industry is that, with drastic changes in gas prices, we see increased [SUV] sales," says in Ford. "It's that uncertainty." The message is about Escape as "friendly and fun-filled" for active-lifestyle consumers. The theme for the campaign is "More fun for the gallon."