Ford Motor and Bryan Cranston urge Americans to ‘finish strong’ and follow Covid precautions

In a new ad campaign using actor Bryan Cranston, Ford Motor is urging Americans to adhere to Covid-19 protocols to save lives in the next period of the pandemic. 

The campaign, part of an initiative the company has dubbed #FinishStrong, includes a new commercial from filmmaker Peter Berg and voiced by the star of “Breaking Bad” and “Your Honor.” The spots will launch during college football bowl games on ABC and ESPN and NFL games on Fox in early January. 

Ford leaders said on a call Wednesday that the company wanted to amplify Covid protocols in the last stretch of the pandemic in an effort to prevent tens of thousands of additional deaths as vaccines roll out. 

“We’re entering a really critical period,” Ford chief communications officer Mark Truby said. “Vaccines are around the corner, but we know from health-care experts and so forth that as many as 50,000 more American lives could be saved between now and when we have mass adoption of vaccines and so forth, and the types of numbers that will really make a difference.” 

The ad, which features scenes of front-line workers and those affected by Covid, aims to strike a unifying tone. 

“We know Americans don’t want to necessarily be preached to, and they don’t want to hear scare tactics,” Truby said. “The idea behind this was how can we come up with a positive message that appeals to folks’ sense of humanity, sense of patriotism, sense of doing the right thing for each other?”

The company worked with ad agency Wieden + Kennedy and Civic Entertainment Group on the spot. Ford is dedicating a number of the slots during the early January games it was originally going to use to promote its F-150 truck. 

Ford has worked with the UAW to produce what it says are tens of millions of pieces of personal protective equipment amid the pandemic, including 20 million face shields, 50,000 ventilators, 32,000 respirators and 1.4 million gowns.