Ford takes Google Street View off-road down the entire TransAmerica Trail

Ford's new global platform 'Ready Set Ford' was built to make people believe they are more capable than they think, and Wieden+Kennedy New York wanted to prove it with a real product rather than a claim. The TransAmerica Trail — a network of back roads and dirt paths spanning more than 5,900 miles across 13 states, normally navigated with printed roll charts — was the longest US route that Google Street View did not cover, and only expert off-roaders with specialist equipment ever saw it.

Persuade Google to lend Ford its Street View camera for the first time, mount it on a Bronco, and put the entire 5,900-mile TransAmerica Trail on Google Maps.

W+K persuaded Google to lend its Street View camera to Ford — the first time the camera had been loaned to an automaker — and mounted it on a Ford Bronco with G.O.A.T. terrain modes, supported by an Expedition Tremor and an F-150 Ranger. A convoy of drivers, filmmakers, W+K staff, Google Maps experts and a wilderness medic spent 32 days crossing from the Oregon coast to North Carolina, camping on the trail and rerouting around a giant sinkhole, fire closures and flood closures. Every mile was captured and uploaded, and the group hid Easter eggs for digital explorers: Sasquatch (a nod to the Bronco's Sasquatch Package) hiding in the brush of Utah, Colorado and Mississippi, and GeoGuessr star GeoRainbolt waiting on a Utah rock as the convoy drove past. An 80-second launch film directed by Farm League's Nick Sokoloff accompanied the release on 29 October 2025.

The project put the entire TransAmerica Trail on Google Maps for the first time — search the trail and the dirt roads are explorable from anywhere — turning a specialist route into a lasting off-road resource and giving Ford's 'Ready Set Ford' platform a tangible demonstration of capability. The 80-second film opened the campaign. In April 2026 the project won the Webby Award for Branded Content in the Auto and auto services category.

Ford's new global platform 'Ready Set Ford' was built to make people believe they are more capable than they think, and Wieden+Kennedy New York wanted to prove that with a product people could use, not a claim. The TransAmerica Trail, a network of back roads and dirt paths spanning more than 5,900 miles across 13 states, was normally navigated with printed roll charts; it was the longest US route that Google Street View did not cover, and only expert off-roaders ever saw it.

W+K persuaded Google to lend Ford its Street View camera — the first time the camera went to an automaker — and mounted it on a Bronco with G.O.A.T. terrain modes, supported by an Expedition Tremor and an F-150 Ranger. A convoy of drivers, filmmakers, Google Maps experts and a wilderness medic spent 32 days crossing from Oregon to North Carolina, camping on the trail and rerouting around sinkholes, fire closures and floods. Every mile was captured and uploaded; hidden Easter eggs include Sasquatch in Utah, Colorado and Mississippi and GeoGuessr star GeoRainbolt on a rock as the convoy passed.

An 80-second launch film directed by Farm League's Nick Sokoloff premiered on 29 October 2025, and the full trail became searchable on Google Maps — a permanent off-road resource for planning the trip from any desk. In April 2026 the project won the Webby Award for Branded Content in the Auto and auto services category.

No automaker had ever borrowed Google's Street View camera, so the partnership itself was the story.

Mapping the trail made the campaign a lasting upgrade to Google Maps rather than an interruption of it.

The 32-day convoy — camping, rerouting around sinkholes and fire closures — demonstrated the vehicles under real conditions instead of in a spot.

The Easter eggs gave digital explorers a reason to hunt through miles of new Street View, stretching the campaign past its launch film.

Ford turned capability marketing into a durable public utility — the first full Street View of America's longest trail — so the brand message is a resource to use, not an ad to scroll past.

The imagery became a permanent part of Google Maps, so the project keeps working long after the campaign: anyone can scout the TransAmerica Trail before attempting it, and Google Maps now has off-road coverage it never had. Ford used the project to bring its 'Ready Set Ford' platform to life in the US, and the Webby Award in April 2026 recognized the work as branded content rather than a conventional auto spot. For W+K, it became a template for brand utility — proving capability through a product people actually use, with the adventure itself as the film.