"Global Anthem" was an American television commercial created by advertising agency JWT Detroit for Ford Motor Company (FMC) in 1999. It was Ford's first ever global advertising campaign.Ford Motor Company Global Anthem Media Kit, released 1 November 1999 At the time, the commercial was believed to be the world's biggest advertisement,BBC GMR Drivetime, November 2, 1999, 18:00, World’s biggest advertisement, presenter Tony Barnes. one of the largest single commercial productions in US advertising history, and one of the most expensive.Farrell, Greg, "Ford sends global signal", USA Today, October 29, 1999, 35.Demetropoulos, Cathy, "One for the books", Screen, Vol. 23, No.1, January 15, 2001, 1.Iezzi, Teressa, "Ford's two-minute epic", Boards, November 1999, 14. In media terms, it was the most widespread use of one commercial at one time by a giant advertiser.Elliot, Stuart, "Ford Goes Global in Effort to Control the Clock", The New York Times, October 27, 1999, 13-14. Retrieved August 9, 2015"Ford Global Anthem campaign has global impact", The Ford/Thompson Times, 1st quarter 2000, 1-2. Initially, a single two-minute version aired in almost every country in the world simultaneously at 9pm on November 1, 1999, reaching an estimated one billion people, 300 million households,Elliot, Stuart, "Ford plans a global TV 'roadblock'", International Herald Tribune, October 28, 1999, 4. and 80% of the world's viewing population."Ford hopes global ad will reach a billion", Post-Tribune (IN), October 28, 1999.Bambarger, Bradley, "Car ad to drive soprano Church's new single", Billboard, November 6, 1999, 8. It was recorded as the world's first global media roadblock in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1999."Ford Motor Company Trustmark goes global with biggest TV roadblock ever", media.ford.com newsroom, October 29, 1999.
Campaign Global Anthem was Ford Motor Company's first global television advertising campaign, and the first television advertisement to include all seven of their car marques – Ford, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo – together in one integrated message.Simison, Robert, "Ford debut ad at same time globally", The Wall Street Journal, October 27, 1999, B10."Ford airs first-ever global campaign", Medialink, October 1999.
The commercial was conceived by Arthur Ted Powell, then senior partner and international creative director on the Ford account at the Detroit office of Ford's long time advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson (JWT), a unit of WPP group that handled Ford assignments including the Ford division.
Intended message At the turn of the millennium, Ford was the world's second largest auto company with aspirations to be global leader in the market.‘Ford aims at global audience in rare ads’, The Detroit News, October 28, 1999, 3B. As a company they were no longer defined by their trademark blue oval logo but by an umbrella of recently acquired international auto brands. The company wanted to communicate that Ford was a truly global company with a set of very strong global brands.Benedetti, Marti, "Commercial broadcast round the world", Ford World, November 1999, 1/11. Jacques Nasser, then CEO and President of Ford, saw "Global Anthem" – as the commercial became known – and the approach of the new millennium and impending 100th anniversary of the car company Henry Ford founded in 1903 as a rare and timely advertising opportunity to raise the corporate profile of Ford Motor Company internationally."Ford goes global with TV anthem", Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), November 1, 1999.
Strategy The strategy was to combine celebratory hype surrounding the new millennium with an emotional message from Ford Motor Company about their seven brands, and create a positive feeling about the company and brand in the mind of the public.Wollenberg, Skip AP, "Ford ad aimed at 1 billion", Detroit Free Press, October 28, 1999, 1. They planned to do this by showcasing their vehicles within the context of people's everyday lives, and to celebrate their customers in all their national and cultural diversity.Television news report, reporter Bob Jamieson, ABC Evening News (USA), October 27, 1999.
The plan was to get the widest possible exposure of the Ford message from a single airing of one global multi-brand commercial over a 24-hour period two months ahead of the year 2000. Monday night was scheduled for the launch because in the US it attracted televisions biggest audiences of the week.Woollenberg, Skip. "Ford plans worldwide commercial", biz.yahoo.com, October 28, 1999."Automaker will air image commercial in markets all over the world on Monday", Oakland Express, Canada, October 28, 1999.
Video The commercial features but does not identify by name 13-year-old Welsh soprano Charlotte Church singing "Just Wave Hello". The spot showcases all seven Ford automobile brands and an amalgam of chrome-colored nameplates under the Ford name.Woodward, Sarah, "Ford charts global course for new millennium ad", Shoot, November 5, 1999, 21-22. Twenty-five different contemporary and vintage Ford vehicles appear in the advertisement, including a 1950s Ford Falcon, Ford Model T, Ford Thunderbird, 1950s Jaguar, Ford F-Series pickup, 1999 Ford Mustang, Ford Expedition, Mazda Premacy, Jaguar XK8, Jaguar S-Type, Ford Courier, Ford Focus, 1950s Lincoln, Volvo S80 and S40, Mercury Cougar, Ford Mondeo, Aston Martin, 2000 Ford Focus, Lincoln LS, the automaker's concept vehicle Synergy 2000 and an assortment of old and new pickup, transit and wagon vehicles, trucks and buses to keep emphasis on the human experience of owning, driving or travelling in an automobile. There is no narrative or voice over. The words of the song are sometimes matched to a montage of nearly 60 scenes of people of different social strata and cultures in nine different countries gesturing hello and goodbye, highlighting the cultural diversity of FMC customers around the world. In the closing sequence, Church appears on camera singing "Just Wave Hello" as the sun rises over the horizon at the Minack Theatre near Land's End in Cornwall, England.Ford Motor Company, Dearborn "Global Anthem" Media Kit, released November 1, 1999 – press release, summary, biography Charlotte Church, lyrics "Just Wave Hello", stills – girl signing, homecoming scene Canada, Minack Theatre, Temple of Heaven, Beijing.
Music The sound track "Just Wave Hello" was an original composition by Danny Beckerman and written in collaboration with Arthur Ted PowellIezzi, Teressa, "Ford's Global Anthem To Debut Nov. 1", Boards magazine, October 28, 1999. and recorded by Charlotte Church at Olympic Studios in London on July 7, 1999. The words of the song "It's time to go now - It's time to wave hello now" were selected to symbolically represent the going of the old and coming of the new millennium. The backing track was recorded with an 80 piece adult choir, 20 children from the Melbourne Grammar School choir, around 20 singers from the Melbourne University Choral Society and 65 orchestral players from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra."Yessian Music scores big", Michigan VUE, January/February 2000, 45. Beckerman later lengthened the final mix into a full-length song. "Just Wave Hello" became the first track on Church's self-titled second album Charlotte Church (1999) released by Sony Classical Records on November 15, 1999.Lawrence, Roberta, 'Yessian Music Lands Spot in Guinness World Records', Soundtrack.net, December 26, 2000. The backing track for the album version (Sony) was recorded with the London Welsh Male Voice Choir and the London Symphony Orchestra and produced by English pop music record producer Trevor Horn for Sony Classical Records (US).Basham, David, "Charlotte Church Takes Pop Music Spin With Trevor Horn", MTV News, October 27, 1999. "Just Wave Hello" was also included in Prelude: The Best of Charlotte Church (2002) and Classics for a New Century (2003).
"Just Wave Hello" was released as a single and reached number 31 on the classic charts in the UK for 4 weeks and number 40 on Billboard US rankings in January 2000.Charlotte Church discography Church sang "Just Wave Hello" at the Millennium Dome in London as part of the official millennium celebrations, and in front of a crowd of 72,000 people at the closing ceremony of the Rugby World Cup final at Cardiff Arms Park in Church's hometown of Cardiff in Wales in November 1999, and numerous concerts and events around the world, including Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York on 25 November 1999."Charlotte chosen to sing at Dome", BBC News, December 12, 1999.Grippo, R.M. & Hoskins, C. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, 2004, Arcadia Publishing, p. 143.
Production The commercial was directed by Edouard Nammour and produced by New York production company Atherton.Champagne, Christine,"Directors - Edouard Nammour" (special report) Shoot, March 24, 2000. Filming began in Argentina on May 10 and finished on August 6, 1999, in Vancouver Canada, it took over ninety days in fifteen locations in nine countries: Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, England, Germany, Italy, Japan and the USA. The crew captured 200 different scenes and 60 appeared in the commercial. Director of photography Simon Duggan from Sydney Australia shot an estimated 150,000 feet of film that was cut into 1,2,3 minute versions by Third Floor Editing senior editor Barry McMann over six weeks in Toronto, Canada."Third Floor drives Ford", Playback, November 1, 1999. Retrieved 12 August 2014.Heinzl, John, "Canadians help drive ambitious Ford ad", Canada 10, October 28, 1999.Law, Alex, "Canada will be part of world commercial for Ford", Sympatico, Canada, October 29, 1999."Canadian technology & talent figure prominently in worldwide TV ad", FCN Online, Canada, October 29, 1999. The cast of extras included over 800 non-actors selected from parks, churches, nightclubs, malls and markets across different locations."Ford, with $1OM+, packs for global advertising trip", Brandweek, November 1, 1999."There is no going alone on a journey", advertisement, Shoot, October 29, 1999. The worldwide production crew was almost as large, numbering in the 700-person range.
Media The two-minute version was broadcast over 140 pan-regional and local market networks in 190 countries at 9pm on Monday November 1, 1999. It aired first in New Zealand on the Internet then headed west around the world. By the end of the day, it had aired in South America, Canada, Asia, the Pacific Rim, the Middle East, India, the United Kingdom, Europe and Africa, everywhere except North Korea. It ran in the same time slot on every major global satellite and cable network (including CNN, MTV and ESPN), pan-regional (including STAR TV, TNT LA, CNN Plus and NTV) and terrestrial stations in USA, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Australia. In the US, it aired on 40 free-to-air and cable channels alone, including the big four networks (ABC, CBS, Fox Broadcasting, NBC). Due to the time difference across the United States, viewers on the West Coast saw the commercial on some cable networks as early as 6pm. The result was near-universal coverage of the entire USA. It was shown on huge electronic screens at 9pm in Times Square New York, Piccadilly Circus London and Ginza Tokyo.Berger, Peter, "Worldwide Ford TV ad", Express, Germany, November 1, 1999. The commercial launch was timed to tie in with the North American International Motor Show (NAIAS) held in Detroit in January 2000 at which Ford broke precedent by showing its various brand in an integrated display.Guilford, Dave, "Ford eyes global ads linking brands", Advertising Age, July 26, 1999.