02-17-06: The tongue in-cheek Ford statement reads, “We set out to evaluate what made Ford Racing drivers so competitive, and so driven to win,” says Ben Poore, Ford Car Group marketing manager. “In doing so, we inadvertently discovered a condition we named Overactive Adrenaline Disorder. Everyone knows someone who is ultra-competitive, always has their Life in Drive, or who is an ‘adrenaline junkie.’ For those who are affected by O.A.D., or live with someone who is, we’re here to help.” The cure? Buy a Ford Fusion.

Ford has just launched a new campaign called O.A.D. or Overactive Adrenaline Disorder. The TV spots starting on Daytona 500 weekend star big-time NASCAR racing drivers and their drive to win with the Ford Fusion and it’s uncanny ability to satisfy the same need all of us out here have. Supporting and print ads will show up afterward in sports, men’s fitness and car-enthusiast magazines. It is brilliant! It is funny! And it will work. While the Ford Fusion that raced at Daytona last weekend with Elliot Saddler at the wheel shares not a single part with the showroom version, it is of little consequence. The imagery of a winner does not have a parts list.

It is all about winning and being seen winning. In the united states NASCAR is front and center as the media giant on the block. It is a national past time that arguably has surpassed baseball in the media star power that it creates for the drivers and the products that sponsor them. Winning teams like Ford and Roush are king makers for not only themselves and their own cars, but anyone associated with them. While M&M’s and McDonalds get a little help, it is expected that the showrooms will too.  “Ford has done a tremendous job in really giving us a great tool to work with,” said Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 38 NASCAR Nextel Cup Ford Fusion, during the new car’s first test sessions at Daytona International Speedway in January. “I can’t wait to get it in some racing conditions, when the track’s really hot and slick and things like that." Dale Jarrett said, “I believe with the change to the Fusion that that’s going to allow the Fords to get themselves in a position to be more of a factor in the Daytona 500 this year.”

Elliot Saddler, Dale Jarrett, and Jack Roush waxing on about their “Ford Fusion” race car and how well it does on the track while confetti floats to their shoulder has a way of rubbing positively fans and viewers. Whether it is subliminal or auto-conscious people walk away from that thinking better of the Ford Fusion. The same is to be said of the Ford Mustang’s unchecked dominance of the Grand-Am Cup Series, the F-150 in the Craftsman Cup, and the Focus in the WRC.

In a year of survival mode at Ford, racing prominence means more than ever. Not only will racing be the bosom-buddy of Ford marketing this year, but it will be the mother’s milk. Look for more of the ad campaigns like O.A.D. to come your way this year because racing is a form of marketing that is worth 10 times what it costs. I can already visualize footage of a FR-500C Mustang Grand-Am Cup car spinning burnouts to a checkered flag and being morphed into a “street-clothes” version as the smoke clears.