Smarmy newsman Ron Burgundy looks like he crawled off a car lot. As it turns out, the reprised Will Ferrell character from Anchorman might actually be able to sell a car. Chrysler (3318058z) reported an 11 percent increase in vehicle sales last month, with sales of Durangos up 59 percent. That’s the SUV at the center of most of the ads starring Ferrell as Burgundy—which made its debut at the beginning of October.
In the intervening month, the spots—70 in all—have garnered more than 7 million views on YouTube (GOOG). They’re short and funny. The tone-deaf, 1970s TV anchor barks at ballroom dancers. He extols the virtues of a glovebox that “goes on for inches.” The Durango, meanwhile, is “a beast of a machine,” according to Burgundy, “the last of the real SUVs.”