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March 4, 2016 11:47 AM   Subscribe

Ad of the Day: Ford's Risky New Short Film About Divorce Is Beautiful and Sad.

Director Daniel Kragh-Jacobsen:

"We started thinking about how prevalent the car is in a divorce. It is both a tool and a setting," he says. "Ford's demography really is the Danish middle class, who do have the highest divorce rate in the world. And so we pitched this film under the banner 'Ford. Supporting families against the odds.' "

The entire ad can also be viewed here in one continuous video. All videos are in Danish and subtitled in English.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage (26 comments total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
My car turns 19 in June (go Toyotas!) and I've had it since new when I was 21. I met my ex-husband when we were 23 and drove to nice places with him when we were dating. I packed it up and moved our things when we moved house. I drove it to airports for holidays, to our wedding rehearsal, to our families' and friends' houses, to funerals of our relatives, to the christening of our nieces. I sat in it and cried when things were falling apart. I packed a case and left our house and drove it to my Mum's. And I packed it up again and drove to my new house. The wipers stick, the heater hasn't worked in years, the bodywork is dented and scraped, a wing mirror is missing and it's too old to find a part, and I cannot bring myself to get rid of it. My whole marriage was played out in it and it's all I have left of my old life. I might be able to watch this one day, but not today.
posted by billiebee at 11:58 AM on March 4, 2016 [48 favorites]


Was the director thinking of Belgium? Denmark's divorce rate isn't even in the top ten.
posted by selfnoise at 12:07 PM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]


Yikes. I'm nearly in tears. And I'm a cynical advertising professional. Extremely well shot, produced, edited and acted.

This is a great (opposite) example of my general problems with commercial movies. They are almost all too long. That was a powerful story told in 16 minutes.

Thanks.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 12:08 PM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]


posted by Clinging to the Wreckage

Epony-something?
posted by BlueHorse at 1:22 PM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]


That was a really well done short film. Like jeff-o-matic said, well shot, well produced, well edited and well acted. And well written, to boot. Many thanks for sharing.
posted by lock sock and barrel at 1:32 PM on March 4, 2016


Wow, this is hard to watch. Speaking as a child of divorce myself. It is good, good art but I have major doubts about getting positive sales effects.
posted by bearwife at 2:27 PM on March 4, 2016


Actually very little of interest happens in cars since, on the average, they spend 95% of their time parked. There's always Lover's Lane though...
posted by jim in austin at 2:44 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


Actually very little of interest happens in cars since, on the average, they spend 95% of their time parked. There's always Lover's Lane though...

Two things that have nothing to do with each other. So does my bike, but it’s still pretty great.
posted by bongo_x at 6:00 PM on March 4, 2016


I don't know about a Ford, but I could totally go for one of those Canada Goose coats.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:47 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


I would have never known that was a Ford ad. There was one blurry logo in the beginning of part two but nothing else. Did I miss something?
posted by bendy at 8:27 PM on March 4, 2016


Given that it's an attempt to move kroner from the "family" to Ford Motor Companies stockholders, minus whatever management can skim off in the process, this isn't beautiful, it's sick.
posted by carping demon at 1:07 AM on March 5, 2016


this isn't beautiful, it's sick.

My thought, also. That the film is so well done makes it even more disgusting. They've taken one of the most painful, private, and difficult moments a family can experience and are using to sell cars. Truly: what the fuck?

Talk about nothing being sacred anymore.
posted by LooseFilter at 8:30 AM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]


Nothing like my parents divorce, or the relationship of my sister and me. Makes it look like a fantasy of the well fed. A grey compromising sentimental Danish fantasy of the well fed. Maybe if my parents had owned Fords things would have turned out better for everybody, we'd certainly all be better looking.

"supporting families against the odds" I guess baby needs new shoes.
posted by Pembquist at 9:44 AM on March 5, 2016


Truly: what the fuck?

If it helps, you could think of these ads as a much-needed pitch-perfect parody -- intentional or not -- of the relentless depressiveness of Danish cinema. You just have to change the context to a sketch comedy show and it becomes, "Hey, what if the Danes made a car commercial?" Then you could milk the joke by following it up with a beer commercial and a toaster strudel commercial in the same style.

What these ads really need, though, is to be undercut by a ludicrously crass capper where the dad speeds off into the sunset behind the wheel of a brand new Mustang yelling, "See ya, suckers!" while giving the family the finger. Smash cut to card with Ford logo and copy, den nye Mustang: kr 569.110, with the titular portion of Mötley Crüe's "Girls, Girls, Girls" blasting over it. Smash cut to speechless family gawping; hold while the revving of a 5L V8 engine and the delirious whooping laughter of a newly free man fade into the distance; roll long, long, long credits over this long, long, long take; once credits are done rolling, gawps break into smiles. Smash cut to Ford logo set to Kool & the Gang's "Celebration," with copy, Selv tak.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:43 AM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]


Actually very little of interest happens in cars since, on the average, they spend 95% of their time parked.

Doesn't follow. It could be that everything of interest happens in a car in the 5% of the time it's not parked. Not everything that happens is of interest to anyone.
posted by kenko at 10:36 AM on March 6, 2016


Given that it's an attempt to move kroner from the "family" to Ford Motor Companies stockholders, minus whatever management can skim off in the process, this isn't beautiful, it's sick.

That's a simplistic and insulting way to look at the collective efforts of a large number of people. Yes, the fundamental survival model for a large corporation involves convincing many someones to buy the stuff they sell, but "large corporation" also means "large number of people, their hopes, dreams and wishes for the world".
posted by nonlocal at 11:11 AM on March 6, 2016


This is very good indeed. For a car ad, it's exceptional.

I think these films speak with a kind of emotional honesty that advertising rarely achieves.

As the Director says, a very brave move by Ford.

this isn't beautiful, it's sick.

I'm curious to know whether you think the ads you usually see on TV — for Old Spice, Dos Equis, Chrysler, etc. — are also sick.
posted by ZipRibbons at 11:59 AM on March 6, 2016 [2 favorites]


I haven't seen them; don't watch TV. Do they lubricate your bank account with children's tears, or parent's anguish? Have you had experience with divorce with children?

That's a simplistic and insulting way to look at the collective efforts of a large number of people. Yes, the fundamental survival model for a large corporation involves convincing many someones to buy the stuff they sell, but "large corporation" also means "large number of people, their hopes, dreams and wishes for the world".

It was meant to be insulting. The Crusades, the wars in Indochina, the extirpation of the American Nations, these were all collective efforts of a large number of people, with all their hopes, dreams and wishes for the world. They weren't advertisements, and neither are divorces.
posted by carping demon at 7:19 PM on March 6, 2016


This is really fascinating and exposes some truly massive cultural differences in the way Danish people relate to corporations compared to Americans. (If they did this in the US, it would be a disaster.)
posted by miyabo at 8:56 PM on March 6, 2016


Do they lubricate your bank account with children's tears, or parent's anguish?

Well yes, to a greater or lesser extent, that's exactly what ads do. And if they're not using tears and anguish, they'll happily play on a wide range of other personal fears and insecurities to manipulate you into buying shit you don't need:

"Maybe girls would like you if you didn't stink so bad."

"Drinking alcohol will make you funny, attractive and rich!"

"You know why people think you're such a loser? Because you drive a shitty, foreign car. This one's for patriotic winners."

And so on.

The thing I like about the Ford films is that they feel unvarnished. They're not trying to sell a lie; they're recognising a truth — albeit a painful one. To me, that makes them considerably less 'sick' than the average ad, irrespective of subject matter.

Have you had experience with divorce with children?

Thankfully, no. At least, not directly. But to be honest, my wife and I (plus two small kids) are struggling to hold things together at the moment, which is probably why I found this so affecting. Feel free to ask me again in a couple of years, though.
posted by ZipRibbons at 3:06 AM on March 7, 2016 [3 favorites]


speaking of a immigrant child of divorce and growing up with a single parent, I didn't find the ad insulting. Their blunt point was clear: life is messy and imperfect, but hey maybe it won't be so bad with a well made car. Despite whatever your opinion is of Ford products, I don't think it's unfair for the ad to prey on an emotion, since every ad is designed that way.

My mom and I have both had an assortment of Japanese cars. Each of those car saw major life events. And I could equally make a nostalgic advertisement highlighting how we had very bad luck with Hondas, and how the Toyotas were very useful (that Camry trunk space is always bigger than I remembered, and safe (my Corolla saved my life when I totaled it). I don't know how "sacred" I would hold divorce as, but the ad made me nostalgic for all the past cars I've been in or owned. Or maybe I'm just jaded enough that I don't feel the sting of whatever emotion they were trying to tug on.
posted by numaner at 8:08 AM on March 7, 2016


Hang in there, ZipRibbons. But, only if you can. I've seen divorce from both sides. My father left when I was five, and I left a son when he was five. No matter what you tell yourself, daddy's not coming home again, and no matter what you tell yourself, you left that five year old without a father. Now, all I'm saying is that a society who sees the human results of situations like that as a legitimate referent for convincing a person to buy the product they are hoping to sell is a society which has become sick unto death.

So what if people think girls would like you if you didn't stink so bad? Big deal. So what if you've been led to think that drinking alcohol will make you funny, attractive and rich? Big deal. So what if people think you're such a loser because of your car, or whatever? Big deal. But, if you leave a five year old feeling like a new leaf that's curled tightly away from a sudden flame and doesn't know how to open up to the healing dew? And someone considers that a great image to lure a consumer? And you don't see a scorched desert stretching endlessly before us with no choice but to take one more step or drop dead on the spot? What then?
posted by carping demon at 7:17 PM on March 7, 2016


Thanks, carping demon. We're soldiering on...

What then?

We recognise that life is meaningless, free our minds, and have a refreshing milkshake.

Because everything seems a bit better after a milkshake.
posted by ZipRibbons at 6:57 AM on March 8, 2016 [2 favorites]


Gimme a margarita.
posted by carping demon at 9:07 PM on March 8, 2016


Do they lubricate your bank account with children's tears

Does that work? How would one go about that? For research purposes, of course.
posted by bongo_x at 12:14 AM on March 9, 2016


These folks could probably help you out: http://www.va.com.pl/
posted by carping demon at 9:20 PM on March 9, 2016


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