Ford Fusion Gets The Dragon Ball Z-Themed Ad Treatment: Ad Break

Ford has followed up its smart, pointed TV spot for the Ford Focus compact hatch, using images and themes from the Dragon Ball Z animated series, applying the same classic ’90s anime treatment to the Ford Fusion mid-size sedan.

The result can be seen above, and it’s tremendously funny.

For those readers who aren’t well-acquainted with the series, allow us to explain. In this clip, the two children – Trunks and Goten, Goku’s second son – are performing a “fusion” to combine into a single, more powerful entity (for a time). However, instead of fusing to become a more capable fighter, in this ad, Trunks and Goten combine to literally become a Ford Fusion sedan.

Yeah, you sort of have to be “in” to get it.

That’s sort of the strength of this Dragon Ball Z-themed Ford Fusion ad, and the earlier Focus spot. The Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime series were hugely popular while members of Generation Y (a.k.a. the “Millennial” Generation) were children, and that generation is coming up fast in terms of purchasing power and market importance. By speaking to Millennials through clever, knowing references to a cultural staple like Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, Ford can continue to make itself the first automaker considered by that demographic.