Kelis has been
tapped to star in a new urban marketing campaign promoting the 2007 Ford Edge
crossover utility vehicle (CUV) with an ad campaign featuring a new song titled
"Push it to the Edge."The
radio spot, which also features a cameo appearance by Hot 97’s Funkmaster Flex,
starts airing Wednesday (Dec. 20) on various national and syndicated radio shows,
including The Steve Harvey Morning Show and The Tom Joyner Morning Show. Tonight
in New York, Kelis will kick off the new relationship with Ford during Nas’ black
and white ball, which is being held to celebrate the release of his new album
Hip-Hop is Dead."I
am an informed buyer who likes to shop around for what I like," Kelis said
in a statement. "I prefer bold designs and that’s what I see when I look
at the Edge. I believe it was built to defy expectations and change people’s perceptions,
two concepts that have helped me define who I am."An
accompanying television commercial featuring Kelis is also slated to start airing
nationwide starting in late December and a traditional print advertisement titled
"Shattered" will run in various urban publications.Ford
has huge expectations that the Ford Edge CUV will increase its bottom line, which
has seen losses into the billions in recent years."This
is the most important vehicle launch for us this year," Ford’s President
of the Americas, Mark Fields, told the LA Times in a recent
review of The Edge. "The Edge will challenge people’s assumptions about
Ford. It will even challenge their prejudices."Fields
said he hopes the launch of the Edge will stabilize Ford’s market share at 15%,
down from the 25% share the company held ten years ago.
