Ford Motor Co. said it and its dealers will spend more than $200 million combined to launch the redesigned 2004 F-150 pickup truck, in the biggest campaign to date for the auto maker, according to the Wall Street Journal. The blitz began Aug. 29 with four 15-second so-called teaser television ads to "let people know something big is coming," said Rich Stoddart, a Ford advertising manager. That will continue for about a week until the official launch Sept. 4 of the six-month-long campaign. That is when Ford will unveil the redesigned F-150 pickup, the Journal said. Thist weekend, the start of the National Football League's season, Ford plans to air F-150 ads in TV broadcasts of all 16 NFL games, as well as on broadcasts of major college football matchups, according to the Journal. Through the NFL games, which will air Thursday and Sept. 7-8, Ford expects to reach 50 percent of the core truck-buying audience, the Journal said. Ford will be a major sponsor of NFL game broadcasts on News Corp.'s Fox. Steve Lyons, head of the Ford division, said the company will spend "more than $100 million" in the next four to six months to launch the pickup, which has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for 21 years, according to the Journal.
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