The commercials, which debuted on "American Idol" April 17, feature two men, each one driving a Ford Edge on a city street at night. They stop next to each other and talk to each other out the window about how their vehicles compare with Lexus RX-350 and the BMW X-5. According to the AP, Ford's advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson Co., had the idea of calling in Mamet. The agency's copywriters wrote dialogue to mimic Mamet's famously spare, staccato dialogue. Mamet was in charge of the direction, including camera angles, lighting and the performances.

A founder of the Atlantic Theater Company, Mamet's principal works include The Duck Variations, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, American Buffalo, Glengarry Glen Ross (Pulitzer Prize), Boston Marriage, Edmond, Oleanna, Speed-the-Plow and The Cryptogram (Obie Award). He recently adapted The Voysey Inheritance for the Atlantic.

Mamet has also written and directed such films as "Spartan," "State and Main," "The Winslow Boy," "Heist," "House of Games" and "The Spanish Prisoner" and was nominated for Oscars for writing "Wag the Dog" and "The Verdict." He has also adapted many of his plays into films, and is a writer and executive producer for the TV series "The Unit."