Reflecting on this yr’s Tremendous Bowl advertisements, I believe I’ll sound grumpy and outdated — besides that I am not complaining in regards to the hip-hop halftime present and Eminem taking a knee.
Full disclosure: I am no fan of the NFL, having give up watching the league nearly three a long time in the past. Except for one sport at Ford Subject in Detroit after I was a reporter overlaying its namesake automaker, the one video games I’ve watched have been the Tremendous Bowls, largely due to the advertisements. As an automotive journalist, it’s fairly actually must-see TV.
This was a yr when, if I did not really feel professionally obligated to concentrate to the advertisements, I’d’ve skipped most of them.
The electrical car pattern — a number of automobiles within the works, not many accessible for buy but — was evident, as was the business’s confusion over how one can promote them.
Good outdated Basic Motors needed to indicate it was down with the youth by rolling out a few popular culture references from the earlier millennium. Very like Austin Powers was frozen within the ’60s, GM appears caught within the ’90s. I am setting my alarm for the 2040 Tremendous Bowl, when GM can roll out some intelligent takes on Ted Lasso and Child Yoda.
GM’s beautiful homage to “The Sopranos” to tout the electrical Silverado was well-appreciated by aficionados of late-’90s HBO. Our buddies at Advert Age hailed its message as “clear and well delivered: This isn’t your father’s Chevrolet.”
Now that is a response that certainly warms the center of all who bear in mind Oldsmobile (1900-2004) and its 1988 marketing campaign for the Cutlass Supreme.
The most well-liked EV spot was in all probability the one with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Salma Hayek Pinault enjoying Zeus and Hera as Palm Springs retirees. Massive stars, particular results, a pleasant gag — the god of lightning, rejuvenated by an electrical car — not less than for the concept of an EV.
However a yr from now, how many individuals will keep in mind that the advert was for BMW versus Mercedes-Benz or Volkswagen or another model? What number of even at present know the title of the featured car? (It is referred to as an “iX,” which is pronounced as two separate letters — not “9.”)
Equally, I loved Nissan’s star-studded, action-packed and intelligent advert, besides that the story was laborious to observe. And the automobiles? Certain, I do know it is in regards to the electrical Ariya and the gasoline-powered Z. Would any informal, Bud Gentle-swigging viewer catch these fleeting references?
In all probability essentially the most controversial spot was from newcomer Polestar, which forged shade on VW and Tesla in its “No Compromises” advert. Among the many blah blah blah that the Volvo affiliate is shunning: “No Dieselgate” and “No conquering Mars.”
It was very efficient at producing consideration for the upstart model, in line with analysts at Edo who observe Net searches throughout dwell occasions. However some Tesla stans cannot abide such disrespect. They higher get used to it: Sort out soccer is a tough sport.