The Ford F-150 Raptor R is a 700-horsepower off-road performance truck. To advertise a truck like that, most brands stick to a pretty tried-and-true formula: Show it driving around the desert or whatever. Pair with some rock music. And call it a day. We opted for something a bit different by leaning into an emotion that is mostly uncelebrated and avoided – fear.

For the average person, it would be pretty damn frightening to be behind the wheel of a Raptor R. But that isn’t a bad thing. We willingly jump from high places, pack into theaters to scream in front of strangers, and ride roller coasters. Fear makes us feel alive. That is the feeling driving the Raptor R. And to get people’s attention, we wanted our idea to actually make people feel those emotions. To feel genuinely frightened and to love every hair-raising moment of it.

The cinematography of our video was inspired by ’70s grindhouse movies: grainy film, an oversaturated color grade, set against a beautiful-yet-sinister desert landscape. Every aesthetic choice was crafted to convey the wonderful, terrified feeling of driving a Raptor R.

The strategic and creative leap to go beyond tired tropes and frame fear as a feeling worth, well, feeling was frighteningly effective. Emphatically, we turned a product reveal into a big brand moment.

Some highlights:

- The Raptor R reveal was one of Ford’s highest-performing truck reveals ever, with a reach of 326M in just one week.

- Over 130K people visited the Raptor R page compared to 15K for the previous Raptor reveal.

- 70% of men aged 18–34 agreed they liked Ford a lot more after watching the reveal film.

- Oh, and for what it’s worth, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson went out of his way to call it “BRILLIANT” on Instagram.