Lincoln gets all Mercury's ad dough

Ford Motor Co. will funnel all of the discontinued Mercury brand's advertising budget into Lincoln, says the head of the Lincoln National Dealer Council. That will fund a Lincoln marketing blitz.

"You'll see a lot stronger presence in the advertising of Lincoln in 2011," Bob Tasca Jr., chairman of the dealer council, told Automotive News. "We've got some pretty good products now. We just need to talk about them more."

In October, Lincoln began a campaign featuring "Mad Men" actor John Slattery.

Ford declined to comment specifically on the ad push. But spokesman Christian Bokich wrote, in an e-mail, "We are preparing the way for seven new or significantly refreshed vehicles to be launched in the next four years."

Ads are expected to highlight the restyled 2011 MKX crossover, the refreshed 2011 MKZ sedan and the MKZ hybrid, said Tasca, who owns Tasca Automotive Group, with Ford-Lincoln stores in Cranston, R.I., and Seekonk, Mass.

Tasca said Ford has assured him that Lincoln's designs will be distinct from Ford's. He said artists' sketches of the redesigned 2013 MKZ sedan show it to be strikingly different from its Ford Fusion sibling.