2014 Ford Focus ST “Black OR White” Commercial: And Is Better—or Not [The Ad Section]

Everyone has a pet peeve. Maybe it’s a co-worker’s annoying laugh, or people who start every sentence with the word “actually.” For me, it’s copywriters who pick inane examples to illustrate the point they’re trying to make in a commercial. Ford’s “Black OR White” spot is a case in point.

This ad is part of Ford’s “And Is Better” campaign, which is built around the premise that EcoBoost-powered Fords are better than competitors’ vehicles because they variously offer features like voice activation, seating for seven, and foot-activated liftgates plus great mileage, which is better than getting those desirable features without great mileage. Of course, Ford isn’t the only company that offers such combinations. For example—power ratings and overall vehicle goodness notwithstanding—while the turbocharged Focus ST in this ad is rated for 23 city/32 highway mpg, the manual-equipped Hyundai Veloster Turbo delivers 24/35, so Ford isn’t the only turbo’d-hatch/good-mileage game in town. But generally speaking, I agree that “and” is better than “or,” which is the point this commercial is supposed to make.

We open on two guys tooling around in the EcoBoosted ST. The passenger asks, “Is this car really turbocharged?” which could lead a viewer to believe that the Ford’s performance is such that he doesn’t believe it is. Why didn’t they have him say something to show he can feel the power, not question it? Anyway, the driver replies, “Turbocharged—and it has great gas mileage.” The passenger then says, “That beats choosing between a turbo or great gas mileage.” The analogy the writers came up with for the driver to respond with is, “Yeah—that would be like looking at black or white photography.”

Then we see our guys in an art gallery, standing in front of two large photos: one is entirely white, the other entirely black. A woman explains that the white one is entitled Sunrise Over Cancun, and the black one is Sunset Over Cancun, which in itself makes no sense because sunrises aren’t white and sunsets aren’t black and they could just as easily given them names that do make sense, like Puffy Cloud Over Cancun and Starless Night Over Cancun. But they didn’t, because logic is apparently unwelcome in this commercial. We then cut back to our guys in the car, agreeing that “and” is better than “or.” The announcer reiterates that the Focus with EcoBoost gives you both a turbo and great mileage, reminds us to Go Further, and then it’s over.

• Comparison Test: 2013 Ford Focus T vs. 2015 VW GTI
• First Drive: 2014 Ford Fiesta ST
• Instrumented Test: 2013 Ford Taurus 2.0L EcoBoost

This campaign is supposed to be about not having to choose between two things you want because Ford gives you both. Other spots in the campaign are more successful and use examples like “Bed OR Breakfast,” “Wet OR Wild”, and cops who “Protect OR Serve.” I’m not saying those are great analogies, but at least they make sense because both things are desirable. But even if “black photography” or “white photography” existed (which they don’t), why would anyone want either of them, let alone both? There are dozens—maybe hundreds—of examples the creative team could have used. This one, fittingly, works about as well as Beavis OR Butthead.

Award-winning ad man-cum-auto journalist Don Klein knows a good (or bad) car commercial when he sees one; the Ad Section is his space to tell you what he thinks of the latest spots. The ad’s rating is depicted via the shift pattern at the bottom, but everyone has an opinion when it comes to advertising, so hit Backfires below and tell us what you think, too.

Source: CarAndDriver