Ford Escape Hybrid Featured as Official Vehicle of the American Idol Red Carpet

DEARBORN, Mich. , May 23, 2007 – Helping turn tonight’s American Idol season finale’s red carpet “green” will be the new 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid, the official vehicle of the red carpet. Ford is providing 30 of its Escape Hybrid SUVs to transport finalists and other VIPs to the season finale.

“Ford’s partnership with American Idol has been very successful over the past six seasons,” says Ed Molchany, Ford’s marketing communications manager. “Idol has become a cultural phenomenon, and it provides Ford a great opportunity to showcase our many new vehicles to a very diverse audience. As the most fuel efficient SUV on the planet, we think the Ford Escape Hybrid will fit right in with the rest of the stars on the red carpet tonight.”

As part of a global initiative across all News Corp. businesses, FOX has recently launched a massive effort to reduce their energy use and impact on climate change. As part of the network’s “Cool Change” initiative, FOX is providing hybrid transportation for American Idol finalists and other VIPs, as well as instituting other programs during the American Idol finals to reduce their carbon footprint.