GM releases Netflix-themed Super Bowl ad starring Will Ferrell

As General Motors puts its electric vehicles in Netflix shows, the automaker and streamer will pay close attention to context. So, for instance, jamming one into “Stranger Things” — set in the 1980s when mainstream EVs were unheard of — makes no sense. And squeezing another into the 1800s world of “Bridgerton” would be even more preposterous.

Will Ferrell makes these points in the automaker’s Super Bowl ad, which was released today and plugs the deal GM and Netflix announced last week. “Should they add EVs everywhere? They shallan’t,” he says in one scene, as he clumsily tries to fit into the Regency-era England set of “Bridgerton.” Similarly, “Stranger Things” character Erica Sinclair tells him in her sassy style that he is “ruining the show” when he shows up dressed as Dustin Henderson in a Chevy Silverado EV.

The ad goes for plenty of laughs, including one scene that shows Ferrell being attacked by zombies from “Army of the Dead.” But GM is using it for a serious business priority—gaining mainstream acceptance for electric vehicles by putting them in binge-worthy shows, or “normalizing” them, which is how GM Global Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Wahl put it last week while announcing the deal.

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The ad, which was handled by The Community with support from McCann Detroit, will air Sunday during the second quarter. Other shows referenced in the ad include “Love is Blind” and “Queer Eye.” GM EVs have already begun appearing in those programs.