Once thought of as a car best suited for affluent Baby Boomers but never the younger set, Lincoln suddenly feels “cool” again, thanks to actor Matthew McConaughey’s popular 2015 Lincoln MKC commercial spot and subsequent spoofs from Jim Carrey, Ellen DeGeneres, and Conan O’Brien. And it’s resulted in some impressive numbers for Lincoln, as Ford’s luxury brand enjoyed a 25 percent increase in sales for the month of October, giving the company its best October figures since 2007.
Indeed, it’s easy to attribute Lincoln’s revitalized fortunes to the McConaughey commercial and its spoof versions – the ad, after all, debuted in September, while Carrey’s Saturday Night Live parody has become a huge hit, with over seven million views and counting. That’s helped make Lincoln feel relevant with younger, hipper buyers, though the comparatively affordable MKC ($33,995 and up) also changes the convention of Lincoln being a pricey carmaker for upper-crust buyers only.
It also helps that Ford is showing a sense of humor when it comes to the spoofs. This is similar to how General Motors made the most out of a Chevrolet sales manager’s tongue-tied moments (“Technology and stuff!”) when presenting a new truck to World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner. “It’s fun to see how the team at Lincoln have decided to lean into that in a similar fashion to how the folks at Chevrolet have leaned into ‘technology and stuff,’” said TrueCar.com president John Krafcik, who added that Lincoln pulled off a coup with “impeccable timing” by hiring McConaughey for its MKC commercial.