Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) will ring in the New Year with a new ad campaign featuring the Rolling Stones' classic rock song "Start Me Up."

"'Start Me Up' really gets you blood pumping," said Ford Division President Steve Lyons. "We picked it to send the message the Ford's back -- with a vengeance."

Ford has bought time on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," just after midnight to air a 30-second commercial featuring the rock 'n' roll hit and touting Ford's full lineup of cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles.

In January, spots will be broadcast during every major college football bowl game, the National Football League playoffs and a long list of popular television shows including "60 Minutes" and "The Simpsons."

J. Walter Thompson U.S.A. Inc. produced six versions of the ad to air regionally.

The Rolling Stones, who are old enough to be grandfathers, recorded "Start Me Up" 22 years ago. The song was the opening track on their album "Tattoo You." Microsoft reportedly paid $4 million to use the song when it introduced Windows 95 in the mid-1990s.

Companies targeting baby boomers and their children have been turning to rock music for decades. General Motors Corp. (NYSE:BGM) licensed Led Zeppelin’s tune "Rock and Roll" for a new Cadillac campaign, Nike has used the Beatle's song "Revolution" to sell athletic shoes and Chevrolet has been using Bob Segar's "Like a Rock" to sell trucks since the mid-1980s.

One of the most famous musical sales pitches aired continuously between 1956 and 1963 when Dinah Shore belted out the ditty "See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet" and blew a big goodnight kiss to America. Chevy sales took off.