You are looking at Doug, an irreverent and absurd tweeting, Facebook updating and YouTube uploading sock puppet serving as the spokesperson for the new Ford car – Focus 2012. With him is John, the straight, fact-oriented man of the duo.

Having succesfully completed the Ford Fiesta Movement, Ford has crafted yet another innovative social media campaign. The multi-faceted fictional characters roam about the country in a new Focus and frequently update their social media accounts with playful banter. Digital Marketing Manager Scott Kelly, whose team is responsible for the campaign says that the idea is to use social channels as a medium to create invitational content.

Anticipating that the customers would expect the new car to be an extension of the older version, Kelly has symbolised the redesigned Focus in Doug – the opposite of what you would expect. “The 2012 Focus is nothing like the past Focus, and Doug is supposed to serve as a provocateur who gets people to take a left turn in their day,” he says.

In order to gain ‘conversational licence’, Ford has made Doug a sock puppet so that he can say and do things which would draw ire coming from a human being. Doug is For

The company intentionally made Doug a sock puppet so he could say and do things that might not be acceptable from a human spokesperson.

Though, Doug has the licence to say what he feels like, John is the one with the real knowledge of the Focus 2012. “He corrects when Doug misinforms and basically acts as a liaison of decency between Doug and the public and also lets us put in some vehicle features in a seamless, natual way,” says Kelly.

The ongoing campaign, launched in March is set to run through fall and possibly until the end of 2011.