Ford Continues Effort to Promote Road Safety in 2010 with MyKey Program

In 2009, the Ford Motor Company made safety a huge priority for some of their most popular vehicles. They have used the latest media attention on distracted driving (eating, drinking and use of cell phones) to their advantage when marketing their trucks and cars. They have specifically emphasized the features of the Ford F-150 and the Ford Focus in their advertising efforts.

The 2009 Ford F150 "Cheeseburger Commercial" aired during the Orange Bowl game on January 5, 2010 reminding the public of their changes in the safety features on the truck back in 2009. The commercial starts off by saying, " Alright, so you're driving down the freeway doing about 60 when you notice the guy next to you is steering with his knees, eating a cheeseburger, and talking on the phone." The commercial goes on to list it's safety features that include "a high strength steel safety cage, side impact air bags, safety canopy, 5 star crash rating, and roll stability control." The commercial implies that if you get in an accident in your Ford F-150, you will have a better chance of survival with these features. I only wish that at the end of the commercial they would say something like, "and don't forget to buckle up." or something of that nature.

According to the Western Farm Press, the "2009 Ford F-150 became America's safest full-size pickup by earning 5-star ratings in both government crash tests, in addition to the "Top Safety Pick" award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and an unmatched list of advanced standard safety features."

In 2010, Ford continues to promote safety in all their vehicles, with emphasis on their best selling Ford Focus, made popular by the American Idol commercials. Ford has added a new program geared to promote safety and responsibility for new teen drivers with the development and institution of their "MyKey" Program. The MyKey Program features safety options for parents who wish to control or limit aspects of their teens driving habits.

The MyKey feature "allows owners to program a key that can limit the vehicle's top speed and audio volume." It will also encourage the use of seat belts, provide earlier warning before the gas tank is empty, and "can be programmed to sound chimes at 45, 55 and 65 miles per hour" to make inexperienced teens aware of inadvertent speeding. The feature is supposed to be standard on the 2010 Ford Focus and will quickly become standard on many other Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models."

I have yet to find a commercial based on the MyKey Program. Probably because teenagers are not that thrilled about it.