A good Super Bowl commercial can almost single handedly change the public’s perception about a brand, think about Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” spot in 2011.
The spot, appropriately dubbed “Born of Fire,” bore a pulsing background track from his song, “Lose Yourself,” from the movie, 8 Mile. It was designed to not only promote the new Chrysler 200, but to cast the brand in a new light. It gave Chrysler a different type of credibility as the commercial was the most-searched ad the following day.
General Motors has a new series of ads coming out for this year’s big game in Tampa, Florida between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs, starring Will Ferrell. GM’s ads are not the next round of “Imported from Detroit.”
(GM rolls out new logo and marketing campaign pitching its corporate transformation.)
Although they may change how some view the company, anytime Ferrell stars in your ads, it’s not going to convey … gritty toughness? The auto company offered up a trio of 15-second teasers that suggest Ferrell’s got it in for the country of Norway.
In the new ads, Ferrell mocks the name Olaf and how it’s intertwined within Norwegian history, places a prank order for 5 million pizzas with anchovies for Norway — adding that “Olaf has a coupon” — to driving along, singing a song with lyrics that include “no way Norway.”
Each of the ads ends with the tagline, “Why does Will Ferrell hate Norway? Find out Feb. 7.” GM offers some insight ahead of their full debut.
“With all the Olafs, skiing and year-round sweater weather, why is actor and EV enthusiast Will Ferrell so obsessed with Norway? The answer to the question posed in these big game teasers is coming soon, but it has something to do with Ferrell – and General Motors – wanting Everybody In on electric vehicles. Perhaps someone should tell him GM has 30 EV models coming by 2025,” the company posits.
(Chrysler & Eminem generate big buzz with Super Bowl spot.)
GM’s “Everybody In” campaign, which was highlighted by a rework of the company’s logo, is really a two-pronged attack. First, it reaches out to consumers to let them know about its shift from conventional powertrain technology to battery power, and it hopes to build on the momentum it got with the October debut of the Hummer, which it claims was the most widely viewed online product debut in automotive history.
It clearly also wants to get the message out to Wall Street that it should no longer be ignored. GM’s stock price is only a slight bit higher than where it debuted nearly a decade ago after emerging from bankruptcy.
Yup. New logo. New ad campaign with a sense of humor that falls right in line with many of Ferrell’s shorts on “Funny or Die,” the website Ferrell and Adam McKay started in 2007. The site is filled with thousands of parodies and other funny, often ridiculous video shorts made by celebrities, including Ferrell, as well as everyday people.
The ads are part of GM’s “Everybody In” mantra to build up excitement for the company’s push to an “all-electric future.” Norway? Yes. Norway, which is the unofficial kingdom of the electric vehicle. More than half of all vehicles purchased in 2020 were battery powered. There are so many Tesla’s in Norway its stunning that CEO Elon Musk’s picture isn’t on the country’s money – or at least a stamp.
Battery-electric vehicles accounted for 54.3% of all new cars sold in the country last year, which is a global record, up from 42.4% in 2019, according to the Norwegian Road Federation. The change took only about 10 years as EV sales were just 1% of the country’s purchases a decade ago.
(CEO Barra wants GM to be dominant global EV maker.)
The stunningly high sales figures are a bit ironic as Norway is a large-scale oil producing country. However, it’s looking to become the first nation to end the sale of gas and diesel cars by 2025.
