DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. won’t advertise nationally in the Super Bowl, but its marketing machine won’t be fully sidelined during the big game.
The automaker plans to promote its “#FinishStrong” ad campaign encouraging mask wearing with regional commercials running Sunday in states hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Viewers in California, Texas, Florida, Michigan and Missouri will see new 30-second and 60-second versions of the spots that Ford debuted last month.
The automaker has not advertised nationally in a Super Bowl since 2017.
In addition to the regional ads, Ford on Tuesday said it is upping its national mask-donation commitment to 120 million from 100 million. The company also said it will make two new pieces of personal protective equipment: a transparent N95 respirator and a do-it-yourself air filtration box fan kit.
“The data shows that we can save a lot of lives in the coming months by coming together as Americans and protecting each other. Our mission is to inspire people to stay safe. There is no bigger platform to do so than Super Bowl LV,” Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s president of the Americas and International Markets Group, said in a statement. “Together with the Ford Motor Co. Fund, we’re also giving out more than 25 million medical-grade masks in some of the hardest hit areas to make it easier for people to help protect each other.”
Ford has received patent-pending approval for the clear masks, which it expects to certify to N95 standards. Officials say they wanted to create something that would allow you to see facial expressions.
“One of the things that’s missing during the pandemic is the power of a smile,” Jim Baumbick, vice president of Ford’s Enterprise Product Line Management and leader of its Project Apollo PPE manufacturing effort, said in a statement. “This clear respirator promises to improve interactions between neighbors, at the store and for those who have hearing impairments.”
The air filtration kits include a die-cut cardboard base, a 20-inch box fan, and a 4-inch-thick air filter. Ford said it will donate up to 20,000 kits to underserved communities and share more details about that effort by next month.
