Last year, 16 car commercials ran during the Super Bowl. This year, as of a few days ago, only nine were scheduled. Traditional heavy hitters like Ford and Audi decided not to participate for a number of reasons, ranging from strong sales (2014 was a great year for car sales, and January volume was up 13 percent versus a year ago) to the fact that there aren't a lot of new, mainstream product introductions right now. And then there was the incredibly high price: The peak cost for a spot in Super Bowl XLIX was $150,000 per second—that money pays for a lot of digital ads and assorted social-media initiatives. But then something happened (drastic rate slashing, perhaps?) and the floodgates opened up. In the end, nearly as many car spots ran during this year's game as last year. To maximize the buzz, many of the originally planned ads were released online at least a week ago. In fact, we've reviewed a number of them already, but here are our final assessments of the group, listed alphabetically within our categories of the Best, the Worst, and the WTF.
BMW: "Newfangled Idea"
If BMW wants us to think that the i3 is biggest game changer since the internet, this engaging, tongue-in-cheek piece of messaging gets the job done. Instead of going all serious with Teutonic technobabble, the agency (kirshenbaum bond senecal + partners) used Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel's self-effacing humor and a well-known YouTube clip to win some hearts and minds and create interest and awareness. But they shouldn't have ended it with that awkward twerking reference, which was creepy to say the least. FULL AD REVIEW | BMW i3 COVERAGE
Dodge: "Born Dodge"
This is hands down the best car commercial of this year's Super Bowl. Not only does it fit nicely with the popular Dodge Brothers campaign, it manages to elevate the whole spirit of the brand to an enviable place: With age comes wisdom, and if you're lucky enough to reach 100 (as Dodge and the people in this commercial have), you've learned some life lessons worth listening to. These folks are passionate, compelling, and downright cool, and what they have to say is wise indeed: "Live for now, because life is good . . . there are miracles all around you . . . tell it like it is . . . don't bitch … keep the pedal to the metal . . . live fast . . . and never, ever forget where you came from." Still not convinced old folks rule? Check out the dude's hand gesture as he peels out in the Challenger in the last frame. Great stuff. DODGE CHALLENGER COVERAGE
Fiat: "Blue Pill"
If Fiat's cars were as excellent as its commercials (most of them, anyway), nobody would buy another Mini. This one sets a high-water mark for using an analogy to make its point: After "ingesting" some Viagra, the new Fiat 500X is "bigger, more powerful, and ready for action." What double entendre didn't you understand? And while this spot could have been shot in the U.S. to save a few bucks, the over-the-top on-location execution is well worth the investment, as it reinforces the brand's heritage and provides permission for the spot's risqué message. Complimenti, signori. FIAT 500X COVERAGE
Kia: "Perfect Getaway"
Pierce Brosnan, dramatic locations, on-point camera work, and excellent direction make this commercial feel like a little Bond movie in its own right. In fact, I find it hard to not like, even though virtually any other AWD SUV could have been substituted for the Sorento. But, hey, that could be said for half the car commercials out there, and can't fairly be held against Kia. And when the Sorento is shown, it looks classy and up to the task at hand. To the extent that a Super Bowl commercial's "success" is based on likability—and we know it is—this one deserves high marks. FULL AD REVIEW | KIA SORENTO COVERAGE
Lexus: "Let's Play"
You show me a car guy who doesn't get a kick out of this commercial and I'll show you a car guy who's lying about being a car guy. It's like Lexus shrunk Ken Block and stuck him in a radio-controlled RC350 and gave him courage pills. The actual "driving" was done by the hooners at Drift 44, who have (as the kids used to say) mad skills. I watched the spot about a dozen times and could have watched it some more, but I had to get this article filed. Will it sell 1:1-scale RC350s? Who knows. But it sure will get the car some attention. LEXUS RC COVERAGE
NASCAR: "Gut Check"
For many fans, NASCAR isn't just about car racing—it's a good excuse to sprawl in front of the TV set all Sunday afternoon and consume beer, meat, and sundry snacks, and who embodies that philosophy better than Parks and Recreation's Nick Offerman? NASCAR thinks he makes a great spokesman for the series, and we agree. In addition to Offerman's considerable acting skills and bodacious nasal hedge, the spot uses clever copy, funny visuals, thumpin' music, and bangin' racing footage to entertain and delight, all to make us embrace that most American of mechanized sporting pastimes, NASfreakin'CAR! (Interesting note: The version that aired deleted the—ahem—controversial gluten reference in favor of mashing together the two cuts embedded above.) FULL AD REVIEW
Nissan: "With Dad"
Toyota can talk all it wants to about being bold, but this oddball Nissan commercial goes way out on a limb by depicting a pretty much absentee father in a campaign that claims to be about fostering father/child relationships. Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" has a clear message: If you're not around when your kids are growing up, they won't be there for you when you get old. But despite the fact that the father in this commercial puts racing ahead of fathering doesn't keep it from having a happy ending. The thing is . . . if you're into racing, like most of us are, this spot serves, for better or worse, to justify our passion. How many weekends did I spend at track days over the years when I could have been playing soccer (or other activities) with my kids? If I'm being honest, a lot. And as with the Nissan Dad, it all worked out in the end. (Even though I never drove at LeMans!) So I think it boils down to this: If Nissan wants to woo hands-on weekend warriors, this is a compelling commercial. The company just has to be prepared to deal with the flack it's already getting for this "it's all about me" execution. And, oh yeah, the all-new 2016 Maxima and LMP race car debuted during the spot look pretty interesting. NISSAN MAXIMA COVERAGE
Toyota: "How Great I Am"
As a teenager, Amy Purdy suffered a case of meningitis that resulted in severe organ damage and the loss of both legs below the knee, but that didn't stop her from winning a bronze medal in snowboarding at the Sochi Paralympics. She's also a model, successful businesswoman, motivational speaker, and competitive ballroom dancer. And then there's the Muhammad Ali voiceover. He brashly set the bar high and cleared it with authority. Together, they're a dream team that oozes confidence and boldness, and Toyota is counting on that rubbing off on the new Camry. To the "my car reflects my values" buyer (of which there are millions), it's bound to have a positive effect. FULL AD REVIEW | TOYOTA CAMRY COVERAGE
Honda: "Synchronized Parking"
In Palm Beach, Florida, you can see the Coralytes synchronized swimmers pretty much any day of the week. But a fleet of cars performing an act of synchronized parking? For that, you need to watch this Honda commercial. It seems that now each and every Honda in the lineup comes with a rearview parking camera—which are being mandated by NHTSA in all new vehicles under 10,000 pounds by May 2018—as standard equipment, and this commercial shows them all parking at the same time. I'm sure some viewers found this interesting. HONDA LINEUP COVERAGE
Lexus: "Make Some Noise"
Lexus describes this hackneyed commercial thusly: "Introducing the first-ever NX Turbo and hybrid from Lexus. 'Make Some Noise' takes a bold, youthful step utilizing NX-generated sound and music video influences to create a commercial like no other in the automotive category." Give me a break—this spot is about as old hat as they come. A sound track made from the product's noises? I remember when Pringles potato chips did that 30 years ago. Kit Kat did it in 2011, and Delta faucets did in in 2013. And racing cars around in a parking garage? The list of those commercials is endless. But, yes, this might be the first car spot that shamelessly borrows from Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair" video, so it's got that going for it. The NX itself is almost impossible to see until the end shot, and the turbo/hybrid news is entirely buried. But I'll grant Lexus this: The commercial is cool. A cool waste of millions of dollars. LEXUS NX COVERAGE
Mazda: "Penn & Teller"
This campaign really annoys me. It uses famous innovators like Thomas Edison, Mia Hamm, and the guy who invented the digital camera to suggest that they had something to do with Skyactiv technology when, in fact, even the name Skyactiv has nothing to do with Skyactiv technology. And now they bring in Penn & Teller, two famous magicians, who use an invisible saw that cuts a CX-5 in half to reveal "a refined interior with the performance you'd never expect in a CUV." Really? At $150,000 a second? MAZDA CX-5 COVERAGE
Toyota: "My Bold Dad"
So what is it with all the Dad-centric commercials this year? Nissan has a bunch of "With Dad" commercials both on air (see above) and online, Dove's "Men + Care Makes Men Stronger" is all about fathers and their kids, and this Toyota Camry commercial proclaims that "Being a dad is more than being a father; it's a choice to get hurt rather than hurt, to be bold rather than be scared. It's a choice that says you'll be there to show them right from wrong." No argument from me about the underlying sentiment, but what does being a father have to do with soap or cars? For the record, this commercial made my wife cry. I liked the Nissan racing spot more. Tomorrow, I'll ask my kids what they thought. TOYOTA CAMRY COVERAGE
Mercedes-AMG: "Fable"
If there's a worse way to introduce the AMG GT S, I can't imagine what that would be. The fable, though well-known, is completely irrelevant. Who is the hare supposed to represent? All other competitive high-horsepower cars? Other, more powerful AMG offerings? And why use animated animals recruited from a kid's bedtime story? Just to set up the pathetic last line? On the plus side, the live action shots do show that the car itself looks (and sounds) pretty damned cool, but why would Mercedes want to trade off very expensive Super Bowl product footage in favor of a fake possum that says "Wow?" And why would they want to even suggest that AMG owners will do anything (ie, cheat) to win? I realize that the commercial is part of a larger social media initiative, but certainly a creative theme that's more relevant to serious AMG buyers could have been used instead. FULL AD REVIEW | MERCEDES-AMG GT S COVERAGE
Jeep: "Beautiful Lands"
In 1956, Woody Guthrie wrote a song about how America "belongs to you and me." Fifty-nine years later, Jeep is using that song as an anthem to sell Renegade crossovers. So far so good (assuming the estate signed off on the deal), but why, halfway through the commercial, do the locations shift from the Grand Canyon, California beaches, Manhattan Island, and the Rockies to Japan, the Great Wall of China, Scotland, Australia, and what appears to be Syria? I, um, don't get it. Are we supposed to hop in our Renegades and drive to those places? Are they trying to tell us that America is good, but not all that good? Are we supposed to rent Jeeps when we travel? Tell our friends in far away places to buy Renegades because these Jeeps are made for us and them? A muddled message to be sure. JEEP RENEGADE COVERAGE
- The NASCAR/Nick Offerman Super Bowl Commercial Kicks Ass
- Mercedes-AMG GT S Reviews, Pricing, News, Photos, and More
- Last Year's Super Bowl Car Commercials: the Good, the Bad, and the Meh
Award-winning ad man–cum–auto journalist Don Klein knows a good (or bad) car commercial when he sees one; this is his space to tell you what he thinks of the latest spots. The ad's rating is depicted on a scale of one (terrible) to five (transcendent), but everyone has an opinion when it comes to advertising, so hit Backfires below and tell us what you think, too. And be sure to read more of Don's advertising critiques here.
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