Ford wants hot hatch shoppers to know it’s serious about dominating the segment with its new Focus ST, so it’s kicking off a series of videos called the “Focus ST Sessions,” targeted squarely at the Millennial demographic. In the first video, we see a twenty-something woman enjoying her Focus ST up a (closed) canyon road, in the company of a Mazdaspeed3, a Subaru WRX and a BMW M3.
And that’s where the video goes from good to bad. We’ll overlook the whole “ignoring the road closed signs” thing, and focus (no pun intended) on the driving shown in the video. It’s chock full of double-yellow-line passes on winding mountain roads, sans guard rail, along with inside, mid-corner passing. Sure, it’s safe in the video, but the drivers used aren’t amateurs, and the road was undoubtedly run numerous times before filming commenced. In the real world, you need to worry about things like rock slides, road debris, animals, joggers, bicyclists, other drivers and a hundred other things not considered here.
We’re not sure how this video slipped past Ford’s legal department, but we’re equally sure of this: when the first teen driver stacks his Focus ST off a mountain road, his parents will present this video as evidence in a lawsuit against Ford. Sadly, these are the times we live in.
We get the purpose of the video, which is to show that the Focus ST “beats” the Mazdaspeed3 and WRX on features, while “losing” to the much more expensive BMW M3. The actual performance of any of the cars shown never comes into play, which is yet another strike against the video. If the Focus ST really does out-perform the others, why not show it doing so on a racetrack?
If Ford had opted to film this on a track, we’d have no issue with it. On public roads, even those closed for filming, we just can’t let it slide without taking note.
Kurt Ernst has been passionate about automobiles and driving nearly his entire life. His early years were shaped working in the family service station, though his real passion was auto racing. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Kurt spent a year club racing with the Sports Car Club of America, before focusing on a business career in marketing and project management. Later, his passion for writing and the automotive hobby found him freelancing for a variety of automotive news sites, including Automotive Addicts and Motor Authority, where his work was syndicated and appeared in several national publications. Recognized as an expert in the automotive field, Kurt joined Hemmings Motor News as an Associate Editor in 2013, and in the years since has progressed to Editor, Hemmings Daily; Managing Editor for Hemmings Motor News, Hemmings Classic Car, Hemmings Muscle Machines, and the Hemmings Daily; and now, Managing Editor, Hemmings Auctions. Kurt was instrumental in organizing the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance from 2013-2019, and has served as a judge at this event and The Vintage Racing Stable Concours d’Elegance. A Skip Barber Racing School graduate and prolific writer, Ernst is also skilled in copyediting, project management, brand development, and public relations.
