Ford Australia botches new Ranger ute marketing
Ford Australia keeps misrepresenting its product, over and over. This time it’s with the heroic all-new Ranger ute. At least they’re consistent…
This brief report is inspired by you, if you are a fine young man named Ben who ill-advisedly placed himself on the mailing list for a new Ranger ute, also known colloquially as the Amaranger, or RangaRok.
Ben is talking about this.
Why does this keep happening? Ford Australia spruiks its alleged engineering prowess every chance it gets, and yet its marketing department seems to keep misrepresenting the product.
You would think if they were on speaking terms with the engineers, they would learn as much about the new Ranger as possible before writing and designing their marketing material. Marketing is supposed to know the product inside and out, in order to inform their customers and be accurate in doing so.
What this should say is something more like, ‘Please buy the Rear Box Step, subject to Rear Box Step actually being a feature of the Ranger in future.’
Honestly, Ford Australia, it’s really not that hard. Just ask the engineers, ‘Is this correct?’ Ask, ‘What is the steppy box thing actually bolted to, if anything?’
Being one, engineers tend to be conservatively particular about the structural links - if any - between a vehicle’s components.
The rear box step as featured in Ford Australia’s Ranger ad campaign here >>
This happened recently with the Everest BaseCamp roof rack misrepresentation about its load capacity.
There was another botching of the allegedly free roadside assistance package they offered to owners for more than five years, which wasn’t free at all. Whoops.
There was the botched description of standard equipment on the Mach 1 Mustang >>, advertised as coming standard with adaptive cruise, rear sensors and a Torsen limited slip rear diff - but came out of the factory lacking any of those features.
Consistency really is the key here, and it’s rare to see such a commitment to consistency from any brand.
And by the way, “Rear Box Step” is not a proper noun. Given what you pay some agency, presumably, to communicate in this way, the least they could do is respect the language. Personal opinion.
That’s just embarrassing. It’s like something from the Prime Minister >>.
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The Ford Ranger is the most popular vehicle in this country because it has grunt, great towing ability, a capable drive system, and a host of clever design features. But there are a couple of negatives to consider before dropping your cash on one.