New Ford Pickup Line: So Available With a Manuel

So this hunky, swarthy, full-lipped guy in a white cowboy hat is tooling down a country road in a red pickup truck. He comes upon a big tree fallen across both lanes. No problem. He off-roads around the obstacle and cruises on.

But in the rearview he spies a dude driving a silver convertible with a dark-haired beauty in the passenger seat. They can't get around the tree.

Cowboy knows what to do. He lassos a chain around the tree and drags that sucker out of the way. Convertible Dude says: "Appreciate it." Cowboy replies: "Anytime."

To this point, the encounter has the usual ingredients of American myth: Nature's vengeance on the frontier. Laconic men, their humming machines and silent women. Cowboy to the rescue.

Then the lady, who looks Latina, addresses Cowboy -- in Spanish.

" Gracias, Manuel."

Cowboy tips his hat.

Driving away, Convertible Dude is puzzled. He asks, "You know him?"

"Yes," she says, in English, with a flirty smile. "He's my ex-boyfriend."

Convertible Dude whips his head around to stare at Bilingual Babe -- and with that kicker, this Ford commercial for the F-150 truck ends.

Maybe at another time a Ford truck commercial could be just a Ford truck commercial. Manuel could be just a guy with a truck. But not now. The immigration debate is burning, and the Latino influence on American society is under examination.

The commercial becomes a Rorschach test, a 30-second telenovela suggesting multiple back-stories and future plot twists.