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Lincoln takes to the Super Bowl with Twitter schizophrenia

Lincoln has officially pulled off the wraps on its ad for this year's Super Bowl. As you may recall, the company invited people to send in their tweets to help craft the spot's story line with Jimmy Fallon in the director's chair. The company chose five tweets and ran with them, and the result is, well, about as focused as your average online comment thread. We do get plenty of shots of the all-new Lincoln MKZ, as well as at least one comment on the interior leather's suppleness.
Do we learn a single thing about the brand's new honey? Nope. But there's a turtle crossing, a band of bikers, a German farming student and herd of alpacas. Mostly, the ad just makes us tired. You can check out the full spot before it airs during the big game by watching it below. We'll be busy preparing for the alpacalypse.
AOL Autos' associate editor Peter Bigelow went deeper in his criticism. Have a read: Lincoln's Super Bowl Ad is A Flop.

Ford recalling 370,000 Crown Vic, Grand Marquis and Town Car models

The Detroit News is reporting that Ford will recall some 370,000 Crown Victoria (pictured), Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car vehicles from model years 2005 through 2011, for an issue regarding the lower intermediate steering shaft. 355,000 of the vehicles in question were sold in the US, with the other 15,000 sold in Canada.
The report indicates that corrosion of the lower intermediate steering shaft could cause a "loss of steering," presumably because of a partial or complete failure of the part. The report points out the dealers will inspect and replace the offending steering component for recalled cars, and may also secure a lower steering column bearing and replace the upper intermediate steering shaft as needed. The company is unaware of any reports of the faulty part causing any accidents or injuries.
Ford helpfully lists states in which corrosion is more likely to have taken place, mostly in the Snow Belt, as you might guess. Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia are listed.

Ford announces four recalls, 1.4M vehicles affected

Ford is taking a bit of the spotlight away from General Motors, announcing a major group of recall campaigns, covering a total of 1.4 million vehicles built between 2006 and 2013.
Let's start with the big one, which covers the Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner and, according to The Detroit News, Ford-built Mazda Tribute CUVs. 915,216 vehicles are covered, all of which were built in model years 2008 to 2011. 736,000 vehicles are in the US, while Canada then Mexico make up the vast majority of the remainder. The problem is due to an issue with the torque sensor in the steering column, which could lead to sudden power steering failure. Manual steering would still be available, though.
"Dealers will perform one of three service fixes, depending upon what diagnostic codes are shown when the vehicle is taken to the dealer," Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker wrote to Autoblog in an email. "They will either update software for the power steering control module and the instrument cluster module; replace the torque sensor; or replace the steering column, which includes upgraded power steering control module software."