Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
ford5001.jpg

Vehicle: Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500

Ad title: "Germany"

Created by: JWT Detroit: "We create ideas for our clients that people want to spend time with" [sic]

Narrative: A bustling shipyard. Forklifts. Foghorn sounds. Dockworkers shouting out to each other in a language and accent that we quickly recognize from Hogan's Heroes and Saving Private Ryan as German.

ford5002.jpg

A container is loaded off of a big cargo vessel. It is opened to reveal a squat, grinning, muscular sports car with two blue stripes running down the hood.

ford5003.jpg

A male model with nearly perfect facial bone structure and two days stubble is standing next to a German dockworker. The dockworker turns to him and, in the vaguely threatening tone of a German interrogator (Ve have vays to make you talk), asks, "So, you couldn't find a car you like here in Germany?"

ford5005.jpg

Cut to scenes of the white sports car tearing down a wet, winding highway over gear-shifting and husky engine-revving noises. The highway signs are blue, not green. It's the Autobahn. Driven NASCAR fast, the white sports car blows past other vehicles like they are standing still.

Cut back to the male model and German dockworker. The model replies, "No, I couldn't find a speed limit I liked in America."

Tag line: Bold is 500 horsepower.

Analysis: Sociopathic is 500 horsepower. Unnecessary is 500 horsepower. Dangerous, irresponsible and sick-in-the-head is 500 horsepower. Society must look upon you as an outcast and social pariah with your 500 horsepower. Sorry to be a sourpuss about it. I know how great the old Mustangs were. I grew up on the legend of my Dad's '65 Ford Mustang, the beloved convertible that he got rid of in 1971, on my account, for a more sensible and family-friendly Pinto hatchback. He was wistful about that old Mustang for years and not just because the Pinto, with its exploding gas tank, turned out to be one of the most egregiously horrible vehicles ever produced by an American automaker.

The Shelby GT 500 is supposed to harken back to those good old days of that '65 Mustang and "to carry on the Ford performance torch that burned brightly under the reign of the Ford GT," says John Felice, general marketing manager for the Ford brand. Indeed, with the Ford Motor Company expected to lose $10 billion this year, the 500 horsepower Shelby is clearly the sign of a company whose best days are long behind it.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Money for Something: Funding OK’d, But Details Missing For ‘Dept. Of Sustainable Delivery’

The mayor got the Council to sign off on $6.1 million for the long-awaited “Department of Sustainable Delivery." But what's it mean? No one is talking.

July 1, 2025

Incoming Albany Mayor Could Help Safe Streets Movement Statewide

The state capital is built for the car and that is how it is experienced by our lawmakers. But could that change under a new mayor? Here's hoping.

July 1, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines: Another Child Sacrificed to the SUV Edition

Stop de kindermoord! An 8-year-old boy killed by an SUV driver is the latest victim of America's obsession with big cars. Plus other news.

July 1, 2025

DOT Testimony: Removing Bedford Ave. Bike Lane Will ‘Reduce Safety’

"Removing the protected bike lane won’t remove cyclists — it will only make the street less safe," the DOT said. "The city risks legal liability for knowingly reducing safety on a Vision Zero priority corridor."

June 30, 2025

Hochul Signs Speed Camera Reauthorization, Enforcement Continues Through 2030

Stating a clear fact that scores of state legislators reject, Hochul said, "Speed cameras save lives and keep New Yorkers safe."

June 30, 2025

Cyclists Tell Judge Carolyn Walker-Diallo: The Bedford Ave. Bike Lane is a Lifesaver

A judge will decide the fate of the Bedford Avenue bike lane on Tuesday. Streetsblog offers some user affidavits.

June 30, 2025
See all posts