Ford readies living billboard to promote Escape Hybrid
By Adnews Staff
Ford Motor Company of Canada will install a billboard made of living plants in Toronto next week to promote its Escape Hybrid sport utility vehicle. The billboard, which will measure 15m by 5m, will be erected above Dundas Square in downtown Toronto. The structure will be covered with approximately 750 live shrubs, vines and evergreens, watered by 150 spray nozzles. The plants will form an image of the vehicle, accompanied by the words, "Makes everything a little greener." Gardening crews will trim the plants once per week. The billboard, which was designed by landscaping firm Agapantha, will remain in place for 16 weeks. "The billboard had to be innovative," said Dean Stoneley, director of marketing communications at Ford of Canada. "When you consider that the Escape Hybrid was the first-ever full hybrid SUV, you realize that you have to do something new to tell people about it." Hybrid vehicles such as the Escape use both a gasoline engine and an electric motor to improve fuel efficiency.