American Idol ended its 15-season run this week with 13.3 million viewers tuning into the 2-hour series finale -- the biggest Idol viewership in three years yet nowhere near the almost 40 million viewers the show attracted at its peak in the mid 2000s.
Despite plummeting ratings and revenue, American Idol held on to its relationship with Ford, a sponsor since Season 1. “What a ride it has been together,” host Ryan Seacrest said about the partnership during Thursday’s finale after a montage of the brand’s quirky music videos featuring past and present Idol contestants. Those videos, although deemed by some viewers as excessive product placement in Idol’s early years, became an expected show staple that continued into this 15th and final season. But as the videos gradually shifted gears into more elaborate productions with bigger budgets, the Ford video shoots turned into something more than an integrated advertising opportunity. The video shoots prepared artists for their post-Idol careers, giving them a glimpse of what it would be like to one day film music videos of their own.
"Doing the music videos has prepared me for many things to come -- this is part of the dream; this is part of what we all want,” Season 8 runner-up Adam Lambert said in the montage. Season 7 winner David Cook added, “I think for me the most educational thing about the whole deal is just what goes into these productions. It's a lot of work.”
Over the course of 14 years and 50-plus Ford music videos, Idol contestants transformed into zombies, vampires, superheroes, giants, magicians, cowboys and cartoons. “The video shoots for our integrations are a jam packed day and provided idols opportunity to learn and experience video production as well as have a great time and enjoy the moment,” Kathleen Kross, Ford's car media integration manager, told Forbes after the finale, where eventual winner Trent Harmon and runner-up La'Porsha Renae were given 2017 Fusions.
Former Idol alums/Ford video stars like Carrie Underwood are consistently nominated or win Video of the Year honors (for example, the beautiful “Something In The Water,” a song Underwood performed during the finale, won at the CMT Music Awards).
“AI provided a unique opportunity 15 years ago as a live show, allowing us to break through and try out new, authentic ways to integrate our products within a show environment. Each year our integrations developed and grew. Every year we encouraged ourselves to be as authentic and current with interests of the idols and the viewers as possible,” Kross explained, alluding to the brand’s example it set for sponsors of other live TV shows such as Idol rival The Voice. “Over the past two years, we worked with social influencers to enhance our integrations with social networks and engagement beyond the show. Additionally, the idols had a lot fun and creative opportunity to experience new things like magic, yoga, style, art all while getting more experience with craft of video production.”
That’s the lasting impact these video shoots will have on the Idol alums even though the show took its final bow. As Season 8 winner Kris Allen said in the final montage, “This is the last Ford shoot we’re going to do and I think we’re all going to miss it a little bit.”
