Following their exciting campaign introducing Ford’s new F-150 last fall, New York-based A Very Small Office (AVSO) in collaboration with design and animation studio Offspring has launched a series of three graphically exciting :30s introducing the new Ford Fusion and Fusion Hybrid. The We Speak Car campaign features vibrant landscapes, oversized typography, and bold voiceovers that highlight the features of the dynamic new vehicle that sets it apart from Ford’s established existing lines.

Each of the efforts feature various live action Ford Fusion models bookended in colorful typographic quotation marks, then cascading through a graphical wonderland along a whitewashed backdrop, encountering, altering, and generating simple geometric forms, cities, and gas stations. The stark backdrop highlights the car’s superb styling and design; the onscreen images reinforce its superior technological features; and the car’s relentless drive through the shifting landscape spotlight its strong presence as it drives optimistically toward the future.

“With so much bad news streaming from Detroit lately, we wanted to create a source of optimism, both for Ford and potential buyers,” noted AVSO Director Mikon van Gastel. “We think this car represents a major departure for Ford, representing a whole new way of building vehicles, and we wanted a forward thinking campaign that would surprise and inform people all at once.”

Hybrid, focuses on the unique advantages that the Fusion offers as a Hybrid, such as its 41 miles-per-gallon average in the city. To reinforce the environmental benefits of such efficiency, the graphics surrounding the white backdrop continually morph into tangles of tree leaves and roots as the Fusion zooms effortlessly through cityscapes and wide-open terrain, sometimes streaking a trail of green behind it which were inspired by the innovative eco guide on the digital smart gauge instrument panel, unique to the Fusion Hybrid.

I-4 highlights the Fusion as the most fuel-efficient midsize sedan in North America, as the car whips past – and avoids – a collection of graphical gas stations. Van Gastel comments, “I-4 is about the duality of the car’s personality. Our hero silver car speaks to the model’s fuel efficiency which is impressive for a traditional engine, and the red car delves into the model’s performance power, which is unique for a 4-cylinder…you might not expect it to be fun to drive, but it is!”

In Sync, three individual Ford models painted three different colors, all with distinctive features move from one to the next with seamless elegance. The spot showcases the vehicle’s voice-activated Sync system, through which a driver can place a phone call, activate the sound system, or request directions from a GPS without taking their hands off the wheel. A sequence of arrows and stylized words appear over, inside, and between the speaking Fusion cars to reinforce the power of spoken language to guide the vehicle’s operation.

Rather than following the traditional vendor model, in which the studio works with the advertising agency from a distance, AVSO teamed up with JWT/Team Detroit to collaborate on the spots from concept to final execution, creating a true partnership.

“One of the things that AVSO has prided itself on since inception – and we share this trait with our colleagues at Offspring – is our willingness to innovate not just in our product, but in our process as well,” stated AVSO Executive Producer Saffron Case. “This collaboration with JWT/Team Detroit is just one example of our team pulling together to do things differently without compromising the quality of the final product.”

About AVSO:
Co-Founder/CD/Director Mikon van Gastel and Co-Founder/Executive Producer Saffron Case opened A Very Small Office (AVSO) in the spring of 2005. Home to design based commercial directors, AVSO has the ability to design and deliver projects from concept to completion. AVSO offers expertise in graphic design, film, emerging media, integrated content, and architecture with an openness to embracing new forms of collaboration and emerging technologies.

The Creds:
Client: Ford
Spot Title: “Sync”, “Hybrid”, “I-4”
Air Date: 3/3/09

Agency: JWT/Team Detroit
ECD: Toby Barlow
AD: Curtis Melville
Copywriter: Steve Silver
Agency Producer: Bob Rashid

Prod Company: AVSO
Director: Mikon van Gastel
DP: Stefan von Borbely
EP: Saffron Case
Line Producer: Nina Huang

Post-Production: Offspring
CD: Mikon van Gastel
Editor(s): Nathan Caswell & Cass Vanini
EP: Joanna Fillie
Producer: Suzanne Potashnick

Telecine: Nice Shoes
Colorist: Chris Ryan

Inferno: Guava
Artist(s): Aron Baxter, Rich Schreck, Jason Farber

Audio Post: Sound Lounge
Mixer: Rob Sayers

Shoot Location: San Bernardino Airport