2018 Super Bowl Car Commercials: Watch Them All Here
When it comes to monocultural moments, you’d be hard-pressed to find an event that brings the American people together quite like the NFL’s Super Bowl … commercial breaks! As the big interludes approach on Feb. 4, a select few automakers are taking advantage of the primo Your-Ad-Here space and dropping spots (and a whole ‘lotta dosh) to direct your attention toward their latest offerings.
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CARS.COM — When it comes to monocultural moments, you’d be hard-pressed to find an event that brings the American people together quite like the NFL’s Super Bowl … commercial breaks! As the big interludes approach on Feb. 4, a select few automakers are taking advantage of the primo Your-Ad-Here space and dropping spots (and a whole ‘lotta dosh) to direct your attention toward their latest offerings.
Related: Super Bowl Auto Ads Drive Shoppers
Cars probably won’t dominate the Monday-morning water cooler conversation quite as much as last year, however. Data in on Super Bowl 51 suggested that automotive ad spending was on the decline for the first time in six years as automakers offered up $70.7 million. This year, only Kia, Hyundai, Lexus and Toyota are confirmed for spots; Buick and Honda will be on the sidelines after appearing in 2017.
Even so, whether you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan relishing the prospect of revenge after 14 years of waiting, or a New England Patriots fan thoroughly unconcerned about this one because rings, man, everybody can feel a little bit better about themselves no matter the outcome after watching these commercials. Come, laugh and cry with us as we cavort through the below exercises in corporate psychology:
Up first in pregame reveals is the minute-long Lexus-Marvel Studios mashup for the LS 500 F Sport and the upcoming superhero movie, “Black Panther.” In this extended version of the ad — a 30-second version will play during the actual Super Bowl — the Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) starts on the roof of Nakia’s LC 500 before recovering a tube of stolen vibranium from three hopelessly inept thieves who appear to be … standing in the middle of the road at the exit of a tunnel for some reason. After a cut sequence of crimefighting, King T’Challa’s cat-suit-clad alter-ego dead-sprints across the emptiest stretch of New York City tarmac we’ve ever seen to perfectly time a fall into the LS 500 F Sport being remotely piloted by Shuri, T’Challa’s sister. Befitting the king of Wakanda, the slot ends at a “world leadership conference.” Just another day in the life, then.
Previously, Kia had teased its Super Bowl ad for the Stinger with former double Formula One world champ and Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi at an empty, twilight-laden racetrack with a pair of the sporty hatchbacks. Now we know who the other Stinger was for: Steven Tyler, lead singer of Aerosmith and famed participant in the “most iconic moment of all time,” aka the Super Bowl 35 halftime show. We see Tyler suiting up and walking out of an infield-stationed motorhome (of which he can certainly afford multiples) before hopping into the car and hitting reverse, smoking his way around a desolate desert oval to the tune of his band’s “Dream On.” In one lap, he not only Benjamin Buttons his way back to the prime of his youth, but he also manages to dream into existence a delirious audience barely held back by a line of police (though none of these people seem to have discovered that you can just hop over the inside Armco barrier to get around the blockade). And in case that wasn’t rock ‘n’ roll enough for you, there’s a Beatles-like hidden message if you play the commercial in reverse.
… But if you thought Kia’s commercials leave a lot of questions unanswered, wait until you see Hyundai’s ad for the Kona. Against the backdrop of a youth match for that other football, a ref dangerously skids his Kona into a parking spot before a match where he does nothing but hand out red cards to otherwise innocent kids in an effort to get everyone out of there so he can watch The Biggest Game at Charlie’s Sports Grill (a level of corruption that would make Sepp Blatter blush). As the coach of one team grudgingly remarks to the other, “Of all Sundays, the game had to be this Sunday,” we’re just as vexed as she is. Who schedules kids’ soccer on a Sunday evening? What’s the correct reaction to being called out for being twins or “too cute”? And if all these people are so passionate about the Super Bowl, why do none of them sound like they’re from Boston or Philadelphia? In the automotive business, we call that driving over some “plot holes.”
In stark contrast to the other automotive Super Bowl slots, Toyota’s tone shifts well away from the mock-serious Lexus ad, Kia’s machismo and Hyundai’s Onion-esque absurdity, and straight into the delicate confines of sincere humanism for each of its three slots (the third debuts Feb. 3). “Good Odds” will show in the first ad break during the Big Game, and it starts with an infant with no feet in the emergency room. “Odds of winning a gold medal?” Well, over the course of the next 50 seconds and to the tune of an Adele-esque piano ballad tailor-made for the occasion, you get to find out: From 1 in 997,500,000 down to even, the ad ends at the foot of a giant slalom course with eight-time Paralympic gold medalist Lauren Woolstencroft intoning, “When we’re free to move, anything is possible.” Expect to see more of this as Toyota’s “Mobility for All” campaign kicks into high gear for the upcoming PyeongChang Olympics.
Speaking of, in the likewise titled commercial that you may have seen since its debut in November, Toyota breaks what has to be some kind of cutaway record as it outlines its goal to be a provider of “mobility solutions” for, well, all (a vision that rival Ford has also been pushing for, at least since last year’s Super Bowl). Once again using the heartstring-tugging power of the child as a jump-off, the commercial packs in something like 260-plus shots and a handful of concept vehicles as an inspirational voiceover tells us what we free-world dwellers already know: Moving around on our own is pretty great. Leaving aside the debate of whether free movement is or isn’t a human right — boy, have I got some philosophy treatises for you — do we have questions for this one? Of course we do: For starters, did Toyota just make up a Japanese baseball mascot at 50 seconds? There are no Kestrels in Nippon Professional Baseball — though delightfully, we hasten to add that there are Swallows. (You noticed that, too … right?)
We admit that we’re stretching a little bit here, but consider it a bonus: Though technically not a commercial running during the Super Bowl, Mercedes-Benz is running what it calls Last Fan Standing, a modern twist on the classic car promotion where the winner has to have their finger planted on a car longer than anyone else. This version, however, requires your phone: Contestants will use their fingers to follow a virtual Mercedes-AMG C43 coupe around a smartphone screen until their patience or attention fails them. You lose contact with the car, you lose the game — and apparently, the difficulty will increase as the contest goes on. A live counter will helpfully keep track of how many rivals you have left, and you can practice ahead of the game on Mercedes’ site. We also suggest reading up on this list of smartphone finger maladies so you can remain in good enough physical condition to adjust your Designo settings to accommodate them after your win.
source:https://www.cars.com/articles/2018-super-bowl-car-commercials-watch-them-all-here-1420698811764/
