Times Are Changin'

Back in the day, Lincoln cars were rear-wheel drive and powered by V8 and V12 engines. The president of the United States rode in a Lincoln. And the youth wrote ballads about the brand. And now… Ha! Have you seen the new Lincoln ads featuring Matthew McConaughey?

Actually, they’re pretty good. Of course, being ads centered around celebrity endorsement, there are no objective reasons given in the commercial as to why you should buy a Lincoln automobile. Still, as a mood piece centered around emotional appeal, the commercials succeed.

The ads might get consumers talking about the Lincoln brand, but it still doesn’t solve the core problem of the Lincoln Motor Company: currently every single vehicle they sell has a counterpart from the Ford brand. While they all have interior and exterior designs to differentiate themselves from their Ford brethren, the brand still falls behind in sales when compared to Cadillac, Buick, Acura, Audi, Lexus, and Infiniti.