R.I.P. Ralphie: Ford Sacrifices a Cane Toad in New Falcon EcoBoost Commercial

As part of the 240hp (179kW) Falcon EcoBoost launch in Australia, Ford's local division in cooperation with JWT Melbourne prepared a new online commercial called the "Cane Toad Road", which for the time being, is not intended for television.

The viral video kicks off by showing a pair of cane toads, which are native to Central and South America, but were introduced to the northeastern parts of Australia in the 1930s to control the beetle population.

The two cane toads are sitting on the road talking to each other before they notice a car coming their way. Ralphie, the male toad, sees no reason to move quickly as he rightly guesses from the sound that it is a four-cylinder model.

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Aussie 1969 Ford Falcon XW GT Wagon Replica up for Grabs

Some will be surprised to know that the ridiculously fast family car is not a creation of the German auto industry that has dominated the segment in the past few decades with models like the Audi RS4/RS6, BMW M3/M5 and Mercedes C63/E63 AMG.

Back in the late 1960s, while American carmakers were obsessed with pony and muscle cars in coupe and convertible forms, Ford's Australian division gave birth to a vehicle that would change the industry: the 1967 Falcon XR GT sports saloon powered by a Mustang-sourced 225bhp 4.7-liter V8.

Holden tried to compete with the four-door Monaro GTS, but it was Ford that ended up creating the world's fastest production saloon in 1971 with the XY Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III propelled by a tuned 351 (5.8-liter) Cleveland V8 with up to 390bhp and a top speed of 250km/h (155mph).

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