Will Ferrell's Anchorman character Ron Burgundy is helping out Dodge with the new commercials that launched last month to promote the new Dodge Durango and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. So far, it has paid off for Chrysler’s Dodge as sales have spiked for the SUV.
Dodge said that the Durango's sales have spiked 59 percent to 5,120 units sold just in the past few weeks, after the ad campaign’s Oct. 5 launch. Overall sales of the Durango are up 50 percent over 2012.
“We've seen almost an 80 percent increase in Web traffic alone since the campaign launched,” Dodge’s Tim Kuniskis told Adage.
The deal with Ferrell and Anchorman studio Paramount could not have been better for Dodge. According to Automotive News, the former Saturday Night Live comedian wasn’t paid for his services, since it is considered standard promotion for Anchorman 2. The spots were created by Wieden+Kennedy with Ferrell’s FunnyOrDie.com team.
Businessweek notes that there have been 70 spots in total, all showing Burgundy selling the car in his classic, 1970s dim-witted style. They’ve amassed 7 million viewers on YouTube.
Anchorman 2 hits theaters on Dec. 20 and you can check out a new trailer below.
image: screenshot