THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY OF THE SUPER BOWL CAR ADS.

By Peter M. DeLorenzo

Detroit. The Super Bowl has long been a battleground for advertisers looking to introduce a new product, burnish their image, or make a memorable statement about who they are, or at least who they think they are. 

Automotive companies have a checkered past when it comes to appearing on the big game, with some rising to the occasion with commercials that transcend the category and create a lingering buzz for the manufacturer in question. But those memorable auto spots have admittedly been few and far between over the years, because the norm is that car spots on the Super Bowl have too often been predictable, or worse, instantly forgettable.

It certainly isn’t easy for a car company to generate a positive impression on the biggest television event of the year. After all, it’s a creative environment that lends itself to raucous, laugh-out-loud spots or immersive, heart-wrenching commercials and not much in between. So, auto companies are up against it before they even contemplate the idea.

But still, if they show up, I feel compelled to write about them, and this year is no different. And yet again, the creative efforts brought forth for the biggest television/sports event of the year run the gamut from really good to embarrassingly bad.

I should point out that my continuing disappointment surrounding the Super Bowl car commercials is the fact that these car companies just can’t seem to contain themselves and end up releasing the ads before the game. The thinking behind this is that they can control the information flow and maximize the impact of the spots through social media. And that is flat-out wrong. Instead, these auto marketers dilute the impact of their spots immeasurably and hasten their spots departure to Afterthought Land. Only one manufacturer seems to get the idea that the impact of the creative execution lies in the surprise – and the buzz – of the moment. Read on…

Disingenuous, Thy Name is Audi. What can be said about this Audi spot besides that it’s grating, disingenuous and annoying? Well, plenty, actually. The :60 spot dubbed, “Let It Go” is a classic example of marketers completely blowing a golden opportunity on every level. Utilizing the actress Maisie Williams from “Game of Thrones,” far from an inspired choice by the way, and regurgitating the song “Let It Go” from the movie Frozen – a monument to musical tedium if there ever was one – this commercial plants Williams behind the wheel of an Audi e-tron Sportback only to find herself stuck at an intersection, which, according to Audi PR minions, “represents a crossroads of today’s preconceptions and old notions of consumption, success, and status. Williams chooses to reverse course and leave it all behind, breaking into the familiar lyrics of ‘Let It Go’ as she drives toward a more sustainable future. Along the way, fellow drivers, pedestrians, and others join in, representing the brand’s efforts to usher in a new era of sustainable mobility. The journey is a metaphor for how the decision to make more sustainable choices takes all of us doing our part.”  

Really, this from a car company that willingly cheated with their diesel emission software for nine frickin’ years, while touting “clean diesel” from the rooftops, as if they had discovered the Holy Grail? Now they think they can snap their fingers and start lecturing us – the German auto manufacturers just love to lecture the rest of the industry on how they’re technically superior – and suggest that the “old” way is obsolete and Audi is going to lead the charge toward the “new” way because they’re ultra-environmentalists all of a sudden? What a bunch of unmitigated bullshit. 

The VW Group – with Audi being their spear carrier – lied to the world for almost a decade and sold vehicles that spewed diesel emissions into the air with impunity, in effect running a calculated criminal enterprise, and now we’re supposed to just “let it go?” This is an annoyingly insipid spot on face value to begin with, but add in the backstory and it becomes despicable – and a flat-out disgrace. 

It was good for Chrissy Tiegen and John Legend, but what was the car again? The Genesis spot was supposed to bury our preconceived notions about “old” luxury and tell us about “new” luxury, but instead it turned out to be just a vehicle for the aforementioned Hollywood couple. As for the vehicle that the spot was supposed to be about – the Genesis GV80 SUV/crossover – Hyundai’s Genesis division is finally present and accounted for in the hottest segment in the market. Beyond that, crickets.

It’s baaack, with an all-electric vengeance. The GMC/Hummer spot was shocking for a couple of reasons. First of all, the horsepower, torque and performance numbers of this super-luxury truck are mind-bending. Secondly, any lingering notions of what the Hummer used to represent have been instantly relegated to the dustbin of history. There will still be people out there that will equate the Hummer with being a bad actor, but the rest of us – at least those who can afford one – will embrace the notion that the Hummer is the pinnacle in its category. I just wish the spot had been 60-sec. instead of 30-sec., and I wish the gist of the spot hadn’t been leaked out beforehand. This spot was more about the emphatic return of the brand, but the execution was good too.

Hyundai will park it for you. Hyundai’s optional “Smaht Pahk” function on its new Sonata got a fun intro in this spot. Featuring John Krasinski, Chris Evans, Rachel Dratch and David Ortiz, it was clever and well done, and I liked it. But one comment: This “Smaht Pahk” feature is great and all, except when Sonata owners are emboldened to park their cars in spaces too close for anyone else to get in or out of their cars. And in our typical high blood pressure cities, this might spahk more than a few confrontations.

Jeep’s “Groundhog Day.” This spot for the Jeep Gladiator was hands down the best car ad on the Super Bowl. Once again, Olivier Francois – the CMO of FCA – demonstrates that he understands the massive scale of the moment implicitly, and bringing Bill Murray back along with a few other key players from the original and much-loved movie was genius. And the fact that the spot was released at 6:00 a.m. on Groundhog Day was simply perfect. This commercial was so far ahead of the rest of the pack that nothing else was even close. Nicely done.

Kia Gives It Everything. “Tough Never Quits” for the Kia Seltos delivers a powerful message and it has an appealing tagline at the end: “Give It Everything. This was an excellent effort on behalf of the Korean brand.

Porsche’s nightmare. Did Porsche actually need to do a Super Bowl commercial? Is that really what this company needs at this juncture? My short answer: How about no?

First of all, it’s nice to see the Porsche museum and some of its iconic cars on screen, but the spot quickly deteriorates into an insipid car “chase” that is just painful to watch unfold.

Once the commercial gets into the car chase scenes, it’s as if any connection to Porsche’s vaunted “soul” is pitched right out the window and the spot devolves into a rote – and painful – regurgitation of every car spot of the last 30 years. It pegged the AE Wince Meter – our advertising barometer – as soon as the cars left the museum.

I’m sure that there are some Porsche enthusiasts out there who will love the spot simply because they get to glimpse iconic Porsches from the past that are on screen in the beginning of the commercial. And I can relate to that. But it would have been a much more impactful commercial if it had never left the museum, giving us looks at some of the great Porsches of the past while suggesting that the Taycan will soon take its place among the great Porsches of all time.

When I heard that Porsche was going to do a spot for the Super Bowl this is exactly what I was afraid of. In its quest to make the brand more approachable – always the death knell for luxury-performance auto manufacturers – Porsche operatives have managed instead to trivialize the brand, reducing it to an insipid car chase that suggests nothing but a giant waste of time and money.

Porsche’s night at the museum “Heist” commercial is not just a bad dream, it’s a nightmare. It’s a cautionary tale for all auto manufacturers and a reminder that contemplating an appearance on the most viciously competitive advertising arena in the world requires laser-like focus and – especially in Porsche’s case – an appreciation of who you are and what your heritage stands for. Porsche set out to make a statement and failed miserably.

Toyota’s Un-heroic Heroes. This was a mess of a spot on behalf of the new Highlander. Sometimes an ad agency – egged-on by clients who should know better – slips into and overreaching mode because it’s a spot for the Super Bowl. And unless it’s an impeccable idea that has true resonance, it usually fails miserably. This is one of those times.

As for the rest of the spots, I really liked the Google commercial called “Loretta.” It was just beautifully done. And, the Mountain Dew spot featuring Bryan Cranston; the NFL spot “Next 100”; the Rocket Mortgage spot with Jason Momoa; “Scout” from WeatherTech and Reese’s “Rock,” which was topped-off by the head-up-his-ass visual. Perfect. And a special award goes to every P&G spot on the game: collectively these were the worst ads on the game, and a quintessential waste of time and money. Ouch.

And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.