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Here’s an easy way to gain a bunch of Facebook followers: Give away an SUV. That’s what Ford is doing with its 2011 Explorer.

The redesigned Explorer will debut on

Ford’s Facebook page

later this month, and if the company can get 30,000 followers before the debut, it will give away an Explorer to one of the Facebook fans.

Ford is known for its innovative social media efforts including loaning 100 Ford Fiestas to social media users to blog,

tweet

and post about the car online.

Focusing media efforts on Facebook instead of traditional marketing and TV isn’t just somewhat cutting edge — it’s pretty cheap, too.