The best commercials are of course entertaining, but we believe the definition of “entertainment” in this context is a story and execution that people choose to watch and share with their friends just as they would an unbranded TV show or film. “John Bronco” was selected to be in the short film competition at the Tribeca Film Festival, received rave reviews in mainstream publications and acquired on Hulu *despite* the presence of a brand. It represents one of the rare instances where a brand (Ford) actually adds to the authenticity of a story and elevates the comedy.

In 2020, Ford was bringing back the Bronco after almost 25 years off the market. The challenge was— how do we reacquaint a whole new generation with the rich history of this iconic SUV, when all that most remember is the OJ Simpson Chase? We needed a way to show all the great archival imagery of the truck, while also pointing towards its reinvention… a story that could embody the amazing journey of the vehicle, its disappearance and ultimate redemption. There was a traditional advertising campaign in the works, so this needed to be something that could reach a wider audience though less traditional means. In success, it would excite both the hardcore Bronco enthusiasts while also exciting the curiosity of an entirely new audience.

Our idea was to create a character that embodied the spirit and journey of the vehicle. The greatest pitchman of all time and the vehicle's namesake: John Bronco. Much like recent documentary successes like Searching for Sugar Man and Winnebago Man, filmmakers often unearth amazing characters that existed before the internet. We dug into the Ford Motor Company archives and discovered hundreds of hours of incredible Bronco commercials and films without any spokesperson, presenting an amazing opportunity: let’s invent one and integrate him into the rich history of the truck! The Ford Bronco was born out of the 1966 Baja desert race and spanned the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, offering an incredible backdrop for the journey of our main character. We made sure to tie him to all the notable ups and downs of the vehicle itself and even provided a way to tease the new 2021 Bronco.

The strategy was to make a short film (< 40 min) that could get into a mainstream film festival in the April timeframe, which led us to Tribeca. The problem is, you can’t guarantee you’re going to get accepted, especially if there’s a brand involved; so we knew we had to make the best film possible and give them no choice! We would then use the film festival premiere and trailer, as well as a select number of screenings, to generate some PR buzz that could get us onto a streaming platform and reach a wider audience. We also wanted to create some mystery and intrigue around the character itself, so we created a website (johnbronco.com) and an Instagram presence @john_bronco66, where people could learn more about the character and even submit sighting and theories about his disappearance.

We were excited about the concept, but knew we needed a great filmmaker and a great actor to nail the tone and authenticity of a real documentary. We hired director Jake Szymanski, who had done similarly funny fake docs for HBO, and Walton Goggins, who had a southern charm, a sharp wit and an undeniable masculinity to embody the title role. We also knew we needed to achieve massive scale in a short amount of time and limited budget — compressing a 40+ year journey into 40 minutes. So we created a series of different looks, pop culture moments, original music, varying styles of advertisements, celebrity cameos and more to make it seem like this guy experienced a one-of-a-kind rollercoaster celebrity life. Shot over 4 days in late 2019 / premiered (virtually) at Tribeca in April 2020 / drive-in screenings in summer 2020 / Hulu launch in October 2020.

The response was overwhelming. Over 1.5 billion earned PR impressions with an 80% RT score and 100% audience score. Amazing reviews from the likes of The Ringer “May be one of the funniest movies of the year,” The Detroit Free Press “An instant classic,” Mashable “Howl-arious,” and Men’s Journal “The short easily stands on its own” (over 90+ earned media article mentions in total). John Bronco ranked in the Top 10 comedies and Top 25 documentaries on Hulu in the month it premiered. Engagement across the website and social media was incredible: over 54,000 likes, views and comments across social channels with people creating their own John Bronco action figures, VHS tapes, jack o’ lanterns, photoshopped mementos and more. It feels like John Bronco is destined for even more adventures ahead… so stay tuned.