Here are the expert reviews on the automotive Super Bowl 2022 commercials

BMW, Kia and Chevy were among the brands that shined during this year’s Big Game.

February 13, 2022 08:25 PM

Ad Age

CHEVROLET

It was the Crypto Bowl! No, wait, it was the Health-and-Wellness Bowl! Or maybe it was the EV Bowl! Er, actually, it was the Celebrity Bowl!

OK, sure, it was all of those things — at least if you subscribe to the theory that three or more of the same sort of commercial in the Super Bowl makes for a trend — but mostly it was the Incrementally-More-Fun-Than-Last-Year Bowl.

Marketers still, of course, had to grapple with plenty of pandemic restrictions and uncertainty as they produced this year’s crop of Big Game ads, but it seems as if pretty much everyone just collectively decided to go with the flow and not let the recurring darkness of real life intrude on the commercial entertainment. Thank God (or Zeus and Hera, if you’re BMW).

Click here for all the automotive 2022 Super Bowl ads.

The overall increased entertainment value (and decreased earnestness) came, in part, via absurdist humor (thanks, Pringles!), an adorable robot dog (Kia) and a ton of perfectly cast celebrities (Lindsay Lohan for Planet Fitness, Jerod Mayo for Hellmann’s, Larry David for FTX). Not to mention celebrity pairings both expected (Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd for Lay’s, Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost for Amazon Alexa) and unexpected (Arnold Schwarzenegger and Salma Hayek Pinault for BMW).

OK, so maybe it was the Celebrity Bowl more than anything else. All that said, this is the annual Super Bowl Ad Review from our friends at Ad Age, an affiliate of Automotive News.

First Quarter

BMW, “Zeus and Hera”
Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners

Arnold Schwarzenegger is Zeus and Salma Hayek Pinault is his wife Hera in this charming BMW spot. The couple has decided to retire to Palm Springs, California, and while Hera seems to be adjusting nicely, Zeus doesn’t quite know what to do with himself. It doesn’t help that his friends and neighbors keep reminding him of his glory days by asking him to deploy his thunderbolt-throwing ability for mundane tasks that are, frankly, beneath a god. (“Yo, Zeus! A little juice!,” a fellow golfer calls out to Zeus from his running-on-low golf cart. Zeus resentfully obliges.)

Fortunately, Hera is attuned to her hubby’s funk—she is (or was) the goddess of marriage, after all—and knows just what to do to snap him out of it: buy him a new BMW iX. “I figure you could use a little pick-me-up,” she tells him. “All-electric?!,” he says with such delight that it’s hard not to share his joy. “All-electric,” Hera confirms. Schwarzenegger and Pinault are lowkey great here, and the production grace notes—the costumes, a (CGI) mini-winged pet Pegasus named Peggy, the use of Eddy Grant’s “Electric Avenue” as the closing soundtrack—are terrific too.

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BMW

Toyota, “Brothers”
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi

We’re very happy that this Toyota ad, which premiered during the Winter Olympics, is also getting Super Bowl airtime. It dramatizes the story of brothers Robin and Brian McKeever, cross-country skiers from Calgary, Canada, who persevered in training together even after Brian began to lose his eyesight as a teenager. Given how moving the story (portrayed by young actors) is, it’s easy to discount the craft on display — the artful cinematography, the expert editing, the propulsive violin soundtrack. But all the elements work seamlessly together, creating an engrossing movie-like experience in a mere 60 seconds.

And the quiet revelation (via on-screen type) that the McKeever brothers went on to win 10 Paralympic medals together (with Robin serving as Brian’s sighted guide) has chill-inducing impact given that it’s paired with a shot of the actual brothers, now in their 40s.

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TOYOTA

Polestar, “No Compromises”
Agency: Forsman & Bodenfors

Volvo-backed EV brand Polestar’s Big Game commercial is supposed to be a no-bull, anti-advertising ad, if you believe the words that appear on screen, including “No epic voice overs,” “No punchlines,” “No empty promises,” “No blah blah blah,” etc. Except those words pop up next to a sensual, dramatically-lit, slow-motion reveal of the Polestar 2 — a product striptease straight out of the visual playbook of the hype-masters at Apple.

And while there is indeed no “voice over” (nor hyphens, nor copy editors, apparently), there is an electronic-music soundtrack with a rapidly escalating, get-the-party-started beat that’s straight out of the aural playbook of superstar DJs.

Plus, interleaved with the anti-ad sentiments are not-so-subtle disses of the competition, including “No dieselgate” (a reference to the VW emissions scandal of 2015) and “No conquering Mars” (take that, Elon!)—and shading your rivals is, of course, a time-tested hype-generator for thirsty celebrities (and brands) everywhere. So what we actually have here is an anti-hype ad that’s pure hype.

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Polestar

Carvana, “We’ll Drive You Happy”
Agency: In-house

Some brands try to push the advertising art form (such that it is) with their Super Bowl ads. Carvana is not one of those brands. Instead, it serves up an entirely unremarkable spot featuring a woman who won’t shut up about how happy she is with her Carvana car-buying experience. (So, yeah, it’s a TV commercial about word-of-mouth marketing, basically.) She’s operatically self-absorbed and entirely unable to read a room (she raves about Carvana at her workplace, at her son’s workplace, at her son’s wedding, etc.). With its tagline, “We’ll drive you happy,” the brand seems to be accepting some responsibility for having triggered this woman’s crisis, but it’s obvious she was a basket case even before she encountered Carvana. On the bright side, unlike a lot of people in her life (including her clearly miserable son), you can get away from her— after just 30 seconds. Or sooner, if you can find the remote fast enough.

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Carvana

Second Quarter

Wallbox, “Can #Supercharged Seth embrace electricity again?”
Agency: The David Agency

We’re not sure how Wallbox figures electrocution is funny, but we’re not amused. The point of this ad is to demonstrate that even poor Seth T., who we are told was actually struck by lightning and now (sagely) tiptoes around wall sockets, isn’t fazed by the electric car charging device Wallbox. The intimation is that if Seth is OK with it, why should we be afraid? Hmmmm. Until now we hadn’t even thought about car charging devices being dangerous. Thanks for warning us, Wallbox.

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General Motors, Silverado EV, “New Generation”
Agency: Commonwealth/McCann

This one gives us chills. Actress Jamie-Lynn Siegler, who played the daughter of mobster Tony Soprano in “The Sopranos,” recreates his ride from Manhattan to New Jersey in the HBO series’ iconic opener. It’s done with eerie precision, thanks in part to Chevy and its agency working with “Sopranos” creator David Chase and Phil Abraham, director of the show’s title sequence. But while the scenery is familiar — the gritty turnpike, the belching smokestacks, Satriale’s Pork Store — this ride is different.

For one, the driver is a woman. Rather than smoking a stogie, she’s eating a lollipop. And the car, which in the original series was a 1999 Chevy Suburban, is now the Chevy Silverado EV, which Siegler charges up before embracing her “brother,” Robert Iler, who played A.J. in the series. The message is clear and smartly delivered: This is not your father’s Chevrolet.

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CHEVROLET

Toyota, “The Joneses”
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi New York

In this delightful romp, a trio of Joneses — Tommy Lee Jones, Leslie Jones and Rashida Jones — try to keep up with one another in a raucous race brought to us by Toyota’s Tundra. We begin with Tommy Lee stopped on a deserted road. Leslie pulls up beside him, OK Corral–style. “What’s up, Jones?” she taunts. “Jones ….” he drawls. The engines rev and the pair peels out. As they careen off-road, a third driver zooms up alongside and splatters mud over Leslie’s windshield. It’s Rashida Jones. “Jones!” shouts an indignant Leslie. “Oh hey, Jones!” cries Rashida. After a few heart-stopping maneuvers, the trio comes to rest at the crest of a snowy hill. A fourth Tundra slides into formation, driven by Nick Jonas. “Jon-as?” queries an incredulous Leslie. “Yeah, it’s ‘Keeping up the Jonases’ now,” he responds. Whereupon Tommy Lee steals the entire spot, sneering at the infiltrator: “Try to keep up. Whoever you are.”

What makes this ad so impeccable isn’t simply the idea or the casting, but its attention to the tiniest details — the race takes place on Jones Pass, all the license plates read #1JONES, and it’s set to “It’s Not Unusual,” sung by none other than Tom Jones. This commercial isn’t just keeping up, it’s ahead of the pack as the perfect microcosm and pinnacle of an overly celebrity-fied Super Bowl.

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Toyota

Third Quarter

Kia, “Robo Dog”
Agency: David & Goliath

Amid the high-wattage and high-priced celebrities in this year’s Super Bowl ads, Kia manages to shine with a $299 robot dog. This spot for its electric EV6 hits all the right notes — drama, suspense and a surprise payoff— thanks to its soaring soundtrack (Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart”) and anthropomorphic animation. If the ad’s intention is to “normalize” EVs, which still have relatively low adoption rates, the pup accomplishes that nicely, but the ad also raises two questions: One, could the robot dog’s running out of battery power at the worst possible time stoke buyers’ apprehension that the EV6 could do the same? And two, is the canine chasing after the human for companionship, or is it jonesing for a jolt? Either way, that dog is a winner. Budweiser should sign him for its next Clydesdale commercial.

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Kia

General Motors, “Dr. EV-il”
Agency: McCann Detroit

In General Motors’ Big Game spot, Dr. Evil (Mike Myers), the supervillain from the “Austin Powers” movie franchise, announces that he’s taken over the carmaker as he addresses his entourage from the executive floor of GM’s famous Detroit headquarters. Number Two (Rob Lowe) gets right down to business, declaring that GM’s Ultium platform — its EV battery system — “will power our whole operation,” to which Scott Evil (Seth Green) responds, “Now we can reduce tailpipe emissions.” Dr. Evil, of course, is unimpressed by that prospect, which prompts a free-for-all of contentious banter, complete with a sudden interjection from Frau Farbissina (Mindy Sterling), who insists that, “You must save the world first, then you can take over the world” — a mission statement of sorts that Dr. Evil proceeds to shamelessly present as his own original idea.

If you’re not already familiar with these characters, well, good luck making sense of this commercial — which is a roundabout means for GM to promote its ambition to go all-electric (and, apparently, take over the world). But fans of Dr. Evil and his entourage will love this reunion, especially given that Myers and Green are in fine form as bickering father and son, and because the ad serves up the Super Bowl’s best product reveal: Baby Me (aka Kyle).

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Fourth Quarter

Vroom, “Flake the Musical”
Agency: Anomaly

Online used car marketplace Vroom packs a whole helluva lot into its Big Game spot — a mini musical that depicts one woman’s elation upon reading a message on her phone as she walks down a city street and realizes that “I’m finally gonna sell my car.” Apparently she’s in a neighborhood populated by nosy theater nerds, because suddenly everyone around her starts peppering her with questions (“Was the buyer respectful?”) while dancing and singing (“She’s finally gonna sell her car!”). And then ... plot twist: She checks her messages again and says, “He backed out,” prompting groans of disappointment from the thwarted Broadway babies. “Never deal with flaky buyers again,” an announcer declares as our protagonist snaps out of her reverie (or whatever that was) and we learn that she ended up selling her car to (non-flaky) Vroom.

According to a behind-the-scenes video, it took 47 cast members, 56 hours of rehearsals, three months of production and “one expert choreographer” — Mandy Moore of “La La Land” fame — to create what Vroom calls “Flake the Musical.” Honestly, it’s more charming than many actual musicals we’ve seen over the years — and infinitely more bearable because it’s over in just 30 seconds.

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Vroom

Nissan, “Thrill Driver”
Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day

Brie Larson tosses the keys for her canary yellow Nissan Z to a seemingly reluctant Eugene Levy — “Coffee’s enough excitement for me,” he tells her, cradling a mug — yet he becomes a whole different man once he slides behind the wheel. The buttoned-up, nerdy dad from “Schitt’s Creek” not only relishes zipping through an urban landscape (briefly encountering his bewildered TV wife, Catherine O’Hara, along the way), he gets caught up in a high-speed chase that Danai Gurira and Dave Bautista join for some reason. This version of Levy — suddenly wearing a leather jacket and sporting Fabio-esque locks — is fully capable of maneuvering the Z through death-defying twists and turns without spilling a drop of his java. He literally transforms into a cinematic action hero, complete with a catchphrase (“Watch the coffee”).

This ad basically says the quiet part out loud: that a lot of automotive marketing is about convincing aging dorks that they can climb out of their midlife (or late-life) Schitt’s Creek by buying the right cool car. Which makes the small print that fleetingly flashes on screen — “Fantasy sequence, do not attempt” — as much an existential reality check as a legal disclaimer.

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