This year has been a rollercoaster ride amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but despite the many struggles faced by the American public, Ford Motor Company is pushing a message to make sure the virus is snuffed out in 2021.
The automaker is rolling out its #FinishStrong campaign to air during college and NFL football games in the first three days of January to replace its F-150 truck ads. The ad, narrated by actor Bryan Cranston, aims to encourage viewers to continue following coronavirus safety guidelines.
"We really were inspired by some of the data we were seeing coming out of the University of Washington, where if we just followed some of these safe COVID protocols and everybody did their part, we're not helpless. We can save more than 50,000 incremental lives," Jim Baumbick, vice president, enterprise product line management, told Cheddar.
At the onset of the pandemic, Ford was one of several American companies tapped to help in the fight against it. The company says it has since produced more than 50,000 ventilators, 1.4 million washable gowns, and nearly 50 million masks.
Furthermore, Ford has pledged to produce 100 million masks in total into 2021, according to Baumbick, who said that it's the very least the manufacturer could do while people on the frontlines work to keep citizens safe.
"These healthcare workers are so inspirational. We can honor them by actually reducing the load on the healthcare system and actually trying to mitigate the transmission of this deadly disease," he explained.
Meanwhile, as the country waits for the COVID-19 vaccines to be more widely available, Baumbick said Ford will do its part in providing doses to workers that request it but will not mandate it as a requirement to continue working.
Health and safety for employees and potential customers are at the top of Ford's list of priorities, Baumbick said, but the company is also committed to improving the health of the environment as it looks to expand its fleet of electric vehicles in the wake of its Mustang Mach-E. He noted that as the electric vehicle market continues to become more crowded, the Mustang is "soon to be followed by the F-150 battery electric vehicle."
"And we just launched our transit battery vehicle. The commercial space is an incredible opportunity to have a big impact, not just to businesses and their overall cost of ownership, but to the environment, which is so central to this transition," Baumbick added.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
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Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
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Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
