Ford execs wanted a splashy new ad campaign. They enlisted Nate Bargatze.

After Ford debuted a new advertising campaign promoting its vehicle service business in June, the automaker’s marketing executives saw promising signs that the messaging was paying off.

But it wasn’t enough—so they decided to add star power.

Enter stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze, known for his clean, apolitical humor. Bargatze was the highest-grossing comic of 2024, and in 2025 he hosted the Emmys and had the highest-grossing comedy tour of the year.

Ford announced Sept. 28 that Bargatze (a Ford Bronco owner) would be the face of the automaker’s “Real Parts. Real Pros. Real Easy” campaign, starting with the Oct. 1 launch of two ads starring Bargatze, with more to come.

“We’ve seen very positive results, both in terms of improving the perception of what it’s like to service your vehicle at a Ford dealer, and also driving shopping activity and driving traffic to our dealerships,” Phil O’Connor, Ford’s global head of marketing communications, said during a media roundtable. “So we’ve decided to amplify our effort in this space by partnering with Nate Bargatze.”

Brand alignment

The first ad, called “Spread the Word,” focuses on Ford’s mobile service option, which allows customers to request service technicians to come to their location, supported by 4,000 service vans Ford has put into rotation in the last few years. The second spot highlights the skill of Ford’s technicians, a major area of focus for Ford.

“I don’t normally do commercials,” Bargatze says in the first spot. “But when I found out Ford mobile service will send a trained technician to my house at no extra cost to take care of my truck—blown away.” The punchline is on brand for Bargatze: turns out, his wife scheduled the service.

The campaign hinges on the fact that Bargatze acknowledges he’s no car expert.

“I don’t know much about cars,” he wrote in a blog post for Ford. “When I got my first used car in high school, the stick shift was sticky to the touch, so I put a tennis ball over the knob to keep my hand less gross. That’s the first and last time I tried to fix a car.”

Ford approached Bargatze about the partnership because the marketing team felt the comedian’s brand was aligned with the automaker’s, O’Connor said: “His brand is all around trust, and family, and the fact that you can go see one of his shows with your family and you know exactly the kind of clean content that you’re going to get. Commensurate with that, we’re a family-owned, family-oriented company.”

Winning back customers

The launch of the campaign follows a years-long effort on Ford’s part to improve its service business in a highly competitive market.

The US automotive service market is worth an estimated $211 billion, per Mordor Intelligence, up from just under $200 billion last year. The firm projects the market will grow to more than $281 billion by 2031, in part due to the fact that US car owners are holding on to their vehicles for an average of 12.6 years.

Independent repair specialists won nearly 45% of “incremental service spend” in 2021 after drivers started to get back to normal driving habits following the pandemic, per the report.

“What we’ve seen is, in general, the aftermarket service business being more competitive over the years,” Brett Burin, executive director of marketing, sales, and CX for Ford’s US customer service division, said during the roundtable. “And we know even today there’s been third-party reports…about OEMs losing share to the aftermarket. We know one of the best ways to get that back is get the word out and change people’s perceptions of why it’s a good idea to get back into a Ford dealership.”

Executives said they’re targeting Ford drivers who opt to get their vehicles serviced by aftermarket providers.

“We expect that we’re going to change perceptions,” O’Connor said. “We’ve been measuring that, and we’re seeing really significant improvements, particularly with Ford owners.”

“But that’s not a high enough ROI for what we’re spending. We need to drive more traffic to our dealers, we need to bring owners back who have been servicing at third-party service centers,” he added. “We need to bring them back to the network, and that’s the intent. So we’re measuring this both from the standpoint of brand perception changes, but also in terms of driving shopping activity to our dealers.”

Ford doesn’t dictate pricing to its franchised dealers, but it comes up with incentive packages that dealers can opt into. In October, for example, some Ford dealers are offering a “buy three, get one for $1” tire deal. Ford also encourages its dealers to offer competitive pricing, and to stay up to date on what aftermarket providers are offering, according to Burin.

“Whether it’s a huge sales year or a slow sales year, our goal with the dealers is to always keep the service machine running, because it’s also what will generate that next sale,” he said. “We know customers that service at a Ford dealership are more likely to buy at that dealership.”