Eight Teams, One Car, Zero Dignity

Ford ran a promotional challenge competition in 2014—teams from various German cities, named things like Firestarter and Mystery Prime, performing escalating brand-approved feats in the hope of winning a car. By the semifinal, the remaining competitors were dressing as superheroes. The final round asked them to perform acts of charity, which is a very specific kind of irony when the whole thing is an advertisement.

The format—ordinary people humiliating themselves in branded scenarios—was everywhere around this time. It made a strange kind of sense: the car as prize, the adventure as content, the audience as validator. Everyone clicks, everyone votes, everyone gets to feel like they participated in something. What they participated in was a car ad. The iPads were a nice touch.