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In recent years, Mazda has earned a strong reputation for fun-to-drive vehicles by spicing up staid segments with products like the compact 3, the mid-size 6, and the CX-7 crossover. The Mazda Tribute, however, was not one of those vehicles. Ironically, the vehicle that launched the brand's Zoom-Zoom campaign was Mazda's least charismatic and least exciting offering. The Tribute was a rebadged Ford Escape, and just as Ford's utilitarian compact crossover languished on the market for far too many years, so did the Tribute.