Will Ferrell stays classy as Ron Burgundy in Dodge Durango ads

By Ryan Faughnder

Oct. 7, 2013 3:01 PM PT

He loves Scotch, his apartment smells of rich mahogany and, as he will tell you himself, he’s kind of a big deal.

Apparently Dodge agrees. Will Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy character, the total buffoon of a newsman from the 2004 hit “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” has a new role as the pitchman for Dodge’s 2014 Durango SUV.

Capitalizing on the high anticipation for the upcoming sequel “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” the ads feature Burgundy extolling the vehicle’s features, no matter how mundane. He doesn’t know much about cars, or anything else he gets paid to talk about, but that doesn’t even momentarily derail him in his role as Dodge’s official spokesman.

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He can’t pronounce “MPG,” for instance. He can, however, stare down and taunt a horse. “This thing is literally 360 times more powerful than you,” he tells the forlorn-looking animal. “Look at you. You’re worthless.”

He’s also really into the glove box (“Comfortably fits two turkey sandwiches... 70 packs of gum.”).

The commercials were directed by Jake Szymanski, who has done work for Ferrell’s Funny or Die and “Saturday Night Live,” and created by Ferrell and the ad agency Wieden+Kennedy.

The ever-quotable first “Anchorman” movie earned more than $85 million in its domestic box-office run.