This commercial was filmed, edited and scored in both 60- and 30-second formats and aired nationally in the United States.

Subaru is one of the leading manufacturers of off-road vehicles in the United States with a long history of supporting national parks as well as funding programs designed to make national parks more accessible and welcoming to all.

Historically, Subaru drivers have long been drawn to the beauty of national parks. As part of our commitment to telling diverse and inclusive stories, we learned that not everyone feels as welcome in these amazing places and that everyone experiences and enjoys national parks with a different viewpoint.

As the National Park Foundation’s largest corporate donor, Subaru wanted to create an emotional commercial demonstrating that regardless of race, gender or physical challenges, everyone can share this amazing experience.

It was a part of the launch of the extra-capable new Subaru Forester Wilderness, a vehicle that can travel effortlessly from pavement to gravel to muddy, rutted trails — each of which would provide a unique sensory experience to our young deaf hero in the back seat.

In addition to the commercial, Subaru partnered with the National Park Foundation to launch the Outdoor Exploration initiative and other brand actions with the goal of eliminating barriers, promoting access and cultivating connections to the social, mental and physical health benefits of the outdoors for all.

The story begins on a Black father driving a Subaru Forester Wilderness through the rugged landscape near Yosemite National Park. The sound is eerily quiet and muffled. We soon realize that we are experiencing this journey through the eyes and ears of his deaf son in the back. The wide-eyed boy stares out the window as his father drives deeper into the forest — purposefully driving over rutted trails and riverbeds. The deaf boy’s finely tuned sense of “feel” is on high alert and a sense of wonder is evident on his face with each new vibration. Eventually, they reach the base of a thundering waterfall, where they are able to share a uniquely sensory moment as they feel the earth-moving vibrations together. The voiceover informs us that Subaru is the National Park Foundation’s largest corporate donor, helping to provide access for all.

Historically, far too many groups of people have had less access, or felt less welcome, in our nation’s national parks. As part of the launch of the new Subaru Forester Wilderness, Subaru was determined to help all feel more welcome in the parks and to raise awareness that a Subaru is the ideal all-wheel-drive vehicle to get the most out of your visit.

The unique sound design is meant to be a main character in this story. The muffled, distorted sounds and jarring silences were carefully crafted to draw the audience in and immediately place the viewer in the auditory perspective of our deaf actor.

And because this film was part of the national launch of the most capable Subaru ever, each progressively more rugged road or trail surface was chosen specifically for the unique sound — or feeling — it could provide.

It was important that we reflected an accurate experience for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, so we drew inspiration and direction from the sound design in films like “Sound of Metal” and “Coda,” as well as working closely with advocates of the Deaf community.