The road to finding the right celebrity: How Matthew McConaughey and Lincoln got hitched

Jon Pearce

Many celebrity endorsements run the risk of being perceived by consumers as insincere or generic; luxury car brand Lincoln sidestepped this possibility by selecting a figure who fit their unique culture and philosophy.

This article is part of the July 2022 WARC Spotlight US series, “Consumers drive automotive toward change.” Read more

“I’ve been drivin’ Lincolns long before anyone paid me to drive ‘em…”

When Matthew McConaughey first showed up in Lincoln ads and uttered that line back in 2014, our team at recently-founded agency Hudson Rouge was attempting to tackle some taboos and conventions of celebrity endorsement head-on. Including the fact that a famous person hawking a product is only doing so in exchange for a hefty paycheck. We were painfully aware that at their worst, celebrity-based ads fell into...

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