NEW ELECTRIC FORD EXPLORER SET TO CHARGE AROUND THE GLOBE INSPIRED BY ALOHA WANDERWELL’S JOURNEY
Born Licensing worked with the Estate of Aloha Wanderwell to help share her inspiring story
Adventurer Lexie Alford (@LexieLimitless), the youngest person to visit every country in the world, began her extraordinary Charge Around The Globe in the new electric Ford Explorer on Friday 8th September. Leaving from Nice, France, she will visit six continents and over 30 countries on an adventure that will see her aim to prove what’s possible in an electric vehicle, whilst simultaneously hoping to become the first person to complete a true circumnavigation of the globe in an electric vehicle.
Her journey encapsulates the ‘can do’ spirit shown by fellow adventurer Aloha Wanderwell, who became the first female to drive around the world a century ago. Aloha used a petrol-powered Ford Model-T for her journey. She encountered numerous obstacles that required unusual solutions, like having oxen pull the car across mud flats, sand and rivers in India, and having human-powered help in China to pull it for miles as civil warfare made buying fuel impossible.
Like Aloha, Lexie will also be using a Ford in her attempt. The electric Ford Explorer she leaves Le Hotel Royal in Nice in – the same place Aloha started her journey from – is a pre-production prototype model that is as close as possible to the vehicle customers will
experience when on sale in Europe next summer.
BORN LICENSING’S ROLE
Ford’s creative agency approached us to manage the licensing of Aloha Wanderwell for this inspiring campaign. Having worked with many celebrity estates before including the estate of Bruce Lee (Boost), Peter Finch (Ovo Energy), Ingrid Bergman, and Humphrey Bogart (Tesco), we understood the sensitivities and respect required when working with the estates of inspiring figures who are no longer with us. For this campaign, Born Licensing's main priority was to ensure that the estate of Aloha Wanderwell was fully comfortable with how Aloha Wanderwell’s story was shared and that her legacy was honored. Born Licensing also managed the release of assets including archive footage and photography featuring Aloha Wanderwell. Born Licensing managed all aspects of communication between the estate, Ford, and Weiden+Kennedy.
#CHARGEAROUNDTHEGLOBE CHALLENGE
Inspiration from Aloha Wanderwell’s journey will influence the route, yet Lexie will ultimately be taking her own path as she deals with severe weather, unpredictable terrain or lack of charging infrastructure, all while aiming to complete the true circumnavigation of the globe in under 100 days.
“This is an epic adventure, but a tough one. It will be tough on the Explorer and with the amount of time on the road alone it will be tough on me and the support crew,” said Lexie. “Any adventure worth having should challenge you though, and I can’t wait to explore the new places and meet incredible people to find out how they’re trying to make their corners of the world better.”
You can follow Lexie’s journey by searching #ChargeAroundTheGlobe, or following @lexielimitless and @fordnewseurope social channels.
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