A few months ago I wrote a blog post Ford Fusion got a role in New Girl where I described a very visible product placement by Ford in FOX show New Girl.
I’ve also mentioned many times when I wrote about New Girl: this is a show that is not known for product placement. Even more: product placement has been practically non-existent.
Apparently the producers signed a deal with Ford, because 21st episode of the Season 2 featured another Ford car model. This time it was Ford Escape.
Wikipedia says that Ford Escape is a compact crossover sold by Ford Motor Company. It was introduced in 2000 and is priced below the Ford Explorer. The 2013 car model was revealed at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show and is similar to Ford Kuga, which is sold in Europe and Asia.
The car has an interesting feature, which can be seen in New Girl. It has the optional hands-free liftgate. We can see Nick raising his foot under the rear bumper of the car to open the tailgate. Pretty cool, ha?
Besides showing the car in several scenes and Nick opening the tailgate, the episode featured also the spoken product placement.
When the guys discussed Nick’s soon-to-be date, Winston mentioned, that he could take his Foscapé:
Winston: “Your car is horrible. So go ahead and take my new Foscapé.”
Nick: “What’s a Foscapé?”
Winston: “Uh, Ford Escape. I’m still work-shopping nicknames.”
And to be perfectly clear that this is truly an official product placement, we could see an explanation on the screen: Promotional Consideration Sponsored by Ford Motor Company.
So, what can we say about Ford’s second product placement in New Girl:
1. New Girl is still a TV series that does very little product placement, so Ford’s stands out. PLUS
2. We saw the front of the car, they have shown us a very interesting feature (opening the tailback with your foot) and the model was also mentioned. It had all ingredients of a perfectly executed placement. PLUS
3. It was seen in several scenes. PLUS
4. Spoken placement was used in a funny context and the writers didn’t exaggerate with brand mentions. It was mentioned only once. PLUS
All in all: another great placement for Ford.