The Ford Handicab
Ford of Netherlands
Issue 47 | June 2018
Agency
Ogilvy Amsterdam
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officers Peter van Rij, Martijn van Marle Art director Helen Fernando Copywriter Djajant Hanenberg
Production Team
RTV Director Swantje Hoppe RTV Producer Vanessa Janssen
Other Credits
Holy Fools Director Coen Stroeve Holy Fools Producer Wikke van der Burg Other Client Service Director Tom Ijzer Head of Influence Ann Maes Account Managers Tim van Aerschot, Joost van der Pol Account Executive Myrte de Jonge Clients PR Manager, Ford Sebastiaan van de Pol PR Executive, Ford Annelous Neven
Date
July – December 2017
Background
Founder Henry Ford famously stated that Ford was a company that was ‘Opening the highways to all mankind’. It meant transportation shouldn’t only be available for the elite, but for everyone. Unfortunately, in today’s world, people still aren’t always treated as equally as they should be. Research showed that in the Netherlands, 55% of handicapped people were unable to find a job.
Ford believes life could be better if people are judged on what they can do rather than on what they can’t. That is why Ford was the first company in Europe to appoint a disability manager.
Idea
To make people aware of their prejudice and prove to them how well people with a disability can function, Ford launched ‘Handicab’. People were offered a free taxi ride. The catch? The taxi-drivers were handicapped people.
Would people get in the Handicab? Passengers were brought face to face with their own intolerance and bigotry. The stunt led directly to a number of reactions that were both shocking and heart-warming.
Results
There were some beautiful and inspiring moments for both drivers and passengers but the broader audience was reached through the online video.
This quickly became Ford’s most successful online video of the year, reaching 575,000 people - alot in The Netherlands, but taking into account PR and other media it reached 10 million people. It was shared 179% above the benchmark. Response was overwhelmingly positive, with 330% of the group sampled liking the video.
The Handicab initiative will continue to show a broad range of people that instead of viewing people as handicapped, they should actually see them as handicapable.
Our Thoughts
This is the first example I can think of from Ford of brand activation with heart. A lot of Ford’s recent advertising and branded content has been competent, even interesting, but rarely has it been as touchingly human as this.
This is exactly the stuff big brands should be doing; getting actively involved in the issues of the time in order to help make the world a better and fairer place.
Governments seem increasingly incapable of solving many of society’s problems and this provides brands real opportunities to become important in people’s lives.
I am a Ford loyalist but this is the first time I have ever felt proud of the company whose products I have driven for so many years.