• by Tanya Gazdik , September 6, 2019

Ford Motor Co. is breaking a campaign for the all-new 2020 Ford Explorer that shows how the vehicle can be used for all of life’s explorations, from everyday family outings such as buying basketball shoes to visiting a pet spa.

TV ads debut nationally this weekend during college and professional football games. The campaign, from Wieden + Kennedy New York, also includes print, radio, social media ads and out-of-home. In-cinema spots break tonight in theaters across the country.

Wieden + Kennedy broke the “Built Ford Proud” brand positioning campaign for the automaker last October. BBDO is Ford’s global lead creative agency, but Ford is using other agencies. W+K is officially serving as the automaker's "innovation partner" on select projects.

The Explorer was one of the original SUVs on the road and for decades has defined the vehicle segment, says Matt VanDyke, Ford director of U.S. marketing. 

“Everything about the new Explorer was built with family adventure in mind,” VanDyke says in a release. 

In the campaign’s lead spot, “Journey Home,” an astronaut makes a dramatic return to earth, hops into an Explorer, then picks up his kids from school. Further exploration involves stopping at a shoe store to get his daughter a pair of basketball shoes and picking up a precooked dinner at a grocery store. 

Narrator Bryan Cranston, the voice of the “Built Ford Proud” campaign, returns for this effort.

“You don’t have to go to another planet to be an explorer,” states the voiceover. “You can be an explorer right here on earth. The all-new 2020 Ford Explorer. It’s the greatest exploration vehicle of all time.” 

In “Nighttime Adventure,” a marine biologist leaving a remote job site uses the vehicle’s Terrain Management System with seven selectable drive modes to travel across rough terrain and ultimately treat her family to ice cream.

“Return to Civilization” follows a dog-sled racer who changes places with her canine team, loading the dogs into her Explorer and hauling them from a remote arctic camp to pamper them at a pet spa.