How do you advertise the all-terrain capabilities of the new Ford Bronco Sport SUV? With the tender tale of a horse raised by goats. We kid you not!
Devised by Wieden + Kennedy New York and Imperial Woodpecker director Stacy Wall, our story takes places in the snowy hills, with a colt in peril—until a herd of Capra aegagrus hircus comes to the rescue and raises him as one of their own:
The horse morphs into a 2021 Ford Bronco Sport, naturally. Exactly the way things work in real life!
"Raised by Goats" spotlights the vehicle's "Goes Over All Terrain" driving modes. G.O.A.T. modes! Heh. "Goat" was also the Bronco's code name during its early development days. (Time will tell if the vehicle ranks among the "Greatest of All Time.")
Ford is skipping the Super Bowl this year, but the ad packs a Big Game vibe. Actually, it plays a bit like a Budweiser Super Bowl commercial until the beast's transformation.
Two more spots hit similar themes—sans furry friends:
The work began rolling out over the weekend under the "Built Wild" umbrella. Shot on Mt. Baker in Washington State's North Cascades National Park, the lead spot stars actual horses and goats (though some scenes were done with CGI).
"We wanted to make this true to nature, using real animals in an authentic environment," says W+K creative director Stuart Jennings. "So we were doing a lot of work even before the cameras were rolling, researching breeds of goats, hiring animal trainers, talking through the performances and developing our visual script."
"Goats are highly intelligent, but they're stubborn," Jennings says. "Sometimes, they just don't want to listen. If they want to eat grass, they'll eat grass. We just had to wait sometimes and cheer them on to do their performance."
"The idea is this vehicle is built for the wild, it's rugged and tough, and the ultimate takeaway is Bronco has G.O.A.T. modes," he says. "It's not just a knob on the vehicle—it's a system that can take you nearly anywhere you want to go."
As you may have guessed, the G.O.A.T. name inspired the creative approach.
"We looked at the vehicle and thought, 'OK, this is a powerful Bronco with the dexterity and off-road acumen of a goat. What would that look like in the wild?' " says agency copywriter Jake Thompson.
Of the rugged outdoor shoot, Thompson recalls, "Mother Nature photographs beautifully, but she's no friend when it comes to filming logistics. We had to change the location at the last minute due to inclement weather, and we didn't originally plan on featuring any snow in the spot. We had to roll with the punches, but we think the surprise snowstorm ended up making the final film even more impressive."
He adds: "Almost all of the goats and horses are real. Most of the landscapes are real. The snow is most definitely real. We had to make a ton of trips to the local outdoor outfitter for more and more cold-weather clothing."
CREDITS
CLIENT: Ford
PROJECT NAME: Bronco Sport 2021
FORMAT:
CLIENT CONTACT: Andy Georgescu
LAUNCH DATE: 1/9/21
DURATION OF CAMPAIGN: 6 months
AGENCY: W+K NEW YORK
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR : Karl Lieberman
CREATIVE DIRECTORS: Stuart Jennings & Eric Helin
COPYWRITER: Jake Thompson (Be Specific, Raised By Goats), Michelle Smith (Brand New Tough, Never
Not Working, What’s in a Name), Thea Ryan (Cabin), Adam Crouch (Find Your Wild)
ART DIRECTOR: Boris Opacic (Go There, Raised By Goats), Amy Wheeler (Brand New Tough, Never Not
Working, What’s in a Name), Mike Lee (Cabin), Alex McClelland (Find Your Wild)
HEAD OF INTEGRATED PRODUCTION: Nick Setounski
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Alison Hill
SENIOR PRODUCER: Kristen Johnson
PRODUCER: Ava Rant
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER AND ART PRODUCER: Tania Sanchez
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Rodrigo Nino
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: Connor Dean
SENIOR ART PRODUCER: Pietro Clemente
GROUP ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Mike Welch
MANAGEMENT SUPERVISOR: Jamie Robinson (Bronco), Ghada Soufan (F150)
ACCOUNT SUPERVISOR: Tenaya Ende (F150) Emilia Pittelli (F150)
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Mac Hall (Bronco)
ASSISTANT ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Will Parker (F150), Alycia Washington (Bronco)
PROJECT MANAGER: Yann Samuels (Bronco), Nicole Formisano (F150)
HEAD OF PLANNING: Dan Hill
STRATEGY DIRECTOR: Alix Toothman (Bronco), Newman Granger (F150)
GLOBAL DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS AFFAIRS: Amber Lavender
BUSINESS AFFAIRS MANAGERS: Anna Beth Nagel (Bronco), Nestor Gandia (F150)
TRAFFIC: Sonia Bisono
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Imperial Woodpecker
DIRECTOR: Stacy Wall (Raised by Goats, Be Specific, Cabin, Never Not Working)
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Linus Sandgren
LINE PRODUCER: Mary Livingston
MANAGING PARTNER: Doug Halbert
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Charlie Cocuzza
DIRECTOR: Lisa Gunning (Find Your Wild, What’s in a Name, Be Specific)
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Nic Restrepo
LINE PRODUCER: Kristin Porter
MANAGING PARTNER: Doug Halbert
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Charlie Cocuzza
EDITORIAL COMPANY: Exile
EDITOR: Shane Reid (Raised By Goats, Be Specific), Katie Turinski (Never Not Working, What’s in a Name,
Brand New Tough)
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Brett Holman, Colleen McKay
SENIOR POST PRODUCER: LauRenn Reed
HEAD OF PRODUCTION: Evyn Bruce
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Sasha Hirschfeld
EDITORIAL COMPANY: Joint
EDITOR: Matt Burke (Cabin, Find Your Wild)
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Chris Grissom
SENIOR POST PRODUCER: Kari Ickert
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Michelle Carman
EDITORIAL COMPANY: Joint
EDITOR: Laura Bermudez (Clues)
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: = Chris Grissom, Elaine Green, Lance Thompson
SENIOR POST PRODUCER: Kari Ickert
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Michelle Carman
SOCIAL EDITORIAL COMPANY: Joint
EDITOR: Charlie Porter (Bronco Sport), Cammeron Neely (F-150)
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Elaine Green, Lance Thompson
SENIOR POST PRODUCER: Kari Ickert
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Michelle Carman
VFX COMPANY: The Mill
VFX SUPERVISOR: James Mulholland
VFX 2D LEAD:
RBG 2D Lead: Jimmy Bullard
RBG 3D Lead: James Mullholland
RBG Compositors: Krissy Nordella, Dhruv Shankar, Jay Lee, Johan Wiberg, Ting-Jung Hsu, Joseph Taylor
RBG 3D Artists: Rune Mansson, Jeff Lopez, Eva Kuehlmann, David Barosin, Michael Davin, Daishi Takishima,
Navdeep Singh, Anna White, Eban Byrne, Todd Akita, Tom Bardwell, Alek Vacura, Eric Xu, Jackie Liao, Anthony
Travieso, Casey Reuter, Arman Matin, Harlan Qiu, Lauren Shields, Minjeong Shin, Aldo Martinez Calzadilla, Mario
Ercolano
NNW 2D Lead: Jade Kim
NNW Compositors: Lucia Hill Barroso, Joseph Yoon
Cabin & BNT 2D Lead: Siro Valente
Cabin & BNT Compositors: Ting-Jung Hsu, David Reynolds
Be Specific 2D Lead: Antoine Douadi
Be Specific Compositors: Katelyn Veneman
Social 2D Lead: Ben Vaccaro
Social Compositors: James Cudahy, Michael Almodovar
MANAGING DIRECTOR: Barry Parkhill
SENIOR VFX PRODUCER: Luis Martin
Associate Producer: Will Jellicorse
Creative Director: Nathan Kane
PHOTOGRAPHY: The Jude Group
PHOTOGRAPHER: MIKE SCHWARTZ
PHOTO ASSISTANT: JAY DAVALOS
AUDIO POST: Sonic Union
SOUND DESIGNER/MIX ENGINEER: Steve Rosen (Raised By Goats, Be Specific, Snow, Cave, Water)
ASSISTANT ENGINEER: Michelle Madias
PRODUCER: Justine Cortale
COLOR COMPANY: CO3
COLORIST: Sofie Friis Borup Bronco (Raised By Goats, Be Specific, Snow, Cave, Water), F-150 (Cabin, Never
Not Working, What’s in a Name, Brand New Tough))
COLOR PRODUCER: Alexandra Lubrano
COLOR COMPANY: CO3
COLORIST: Kath Raisch (Find Your Wild)
COLOR PRODUCER: Anna Kelman
MUSIC
Raised By Goats
MUSIC COMPANY: Walker
SENIOR EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Sara Matarazzo
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Stephanie Pigott
PRODUCER: Danielle Soury
Find Your Wild - Ode to the Pleiades - Photay Remix
Cave
Track: Keep Bouncing Instrumental
Music Supervision: Elias Music
Music Supervisor: Emily Kimball
Camping
Track: Warfare v2
Music Supervision: Overcoast
Music Supervisor: Travis Tucker
Kayak
Track: Big Bad Terror (drums only)
Music Supervision: Overcoast
Music Supervisor: Travis Tucker
GOAT Mode
Track: Warrior Instrumental
Music Supervision: Elias Music
Music Supervisor: Emily Kimball
Molle Straps
Track: Drum Circle
Music Supervision: Finger Music
Music Supervisor: Ewa Miller
Mountain Biking
Track: War Path
Music Supervision: APM
Cabin
Sound Design: Boom Box Post
Supervising Sound Designers: Kate Finan, MPSE & Jeff Shiffman, MPSE
Sound Designers: Brad Meyer, MPSE & Jacob Cook
Cabin Track :30/:20: Strawberry Blues
Music Supervision: Overcoast
Music Supervisor: Colin Beckett / Travis Tucker
What’s In a Name: Bad Things by Rayland Baxter
Music Supervision: GEMS
Music Supervisor: Marielle Jade Te, Morgan Thoryk, Andrew Kahn
Never Not Working: Ca-Ba-Dab by Soul Swingers
Music Supervision: GEMS
Music Supervisor: Marielle Jade Te, Morgan Thoryk, Andrew Kahn
Brand New Tough: Trouble in the Delta by 5 Alarm Music OBO Cavendish Music
Music Supervision: Claire Hecamp
Music Supervisor: Claire Hecamp
Clues
Track: Be Something New Instrumental
Music Supervision: Overcoast
Music Supervisor: Travis Tucker
Boat
Track: Be Something New Instrumental
Music Supervision: Overcoast
Music Supervisor: Travis Tucker
All-New
Track: Determined
Music Supervision: Overcoast
Music Supervisor: Travis Tucker
Back Up
Track: Flinty
Music Supervision: Overcoast
Music Supervisor: Travis Tucker
OTA: "Ca'-Ba'-Dab" by Soul Swingers
Music Supervision: GEMS
Music Supervisor: Marielle Jade Te, Morgan Thoryk, Andrew Kahn
A Lot Of Tough: "Ca'-Ba'-Dab" by Soul Swingers
Music Supervision: GEMS
Music Supervisor: Marielle Jade Te, Morgan Thoryk, Andrew Kahn
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