Automakers approach Super Bowl ad stage from different angles

Toyota isn't taking its foot off the accelerator with the redesigned Tacoma.

The brand's Super Bowl ad shows viewers they can come along for the ride — but they may have to hold on.

Toyota — one of only four automakers that have announced a commercial in this weekend's NFL championship game — is using advertising's biggest stage to showcase the off-road chops of the nation's top-selling midsize pickup. The Tacoma more than tripled the sales of its nearest rival in 2023 and has just received its first ground-up makeover in 14 years.

Yet Toyota isn't getting complacent, noting that the Tacoma's market share has dwindled as more competition has arrived. The Tacoma commanded nearly two-thirds of midsize pickup sales in 2013 but about 45 percent last year, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center.

While sitting at the top for so long is enviable, it doesn't necessarily make for an effortless ad campaign, said Mike Tripp, group vice president of Toyota marketing for Toyota Motor North America.

"I've always believed it's easier to be the hunter than the hunted," Tripp told Automotive News. "Don't get me wrong, we love the fact that we've been on top for 19 years, but we don't take it for granted. Actually, one of the problems that we were trying to solve with the creative this year was to make sure that we didn't rest on our laurels."

Each of the four automakers advertising this year had a unique mission, as Toyota hawked its pickup, BMW pitched its electric i5 with actor Christopher Walken and singer Usher, Kia went the sentimental route to promote its new EV9 utility vehicle, and Volkswagen made a spot it called "an American love story" to celebrate its 75th year in the U.S.

The Detroit 3 all rode the bench. Stellantis, creator of acclaimed ads over the years, cited a need to conserve money in a challenging North America market. General Motors has pulled back on marketing spending across the board and Ford Motor Co. has rarely advertised during the game.

"If you don't have the right inventory situation or production situation, plus there's the optics of spending a lot of money on the Big Game when you've just gotten through somewhat bruising negotiations with your union partners, it's a smart move to just say, 'Let's take a break,' " said Kevin Krim, CEO of EDO Inc., an analytics firm that measures online search activity after commercials air.

BMW had been in talks with Usher, who will perform during the halftime show, about working together in some fashion well before the opportunity with Walken popped up.

Usher's appearance at the end of the brand's ad was a "cheeky surprise and delight" moment, said Albi Pagenstert, head of brand marketing for BMW of North America.

Before Usher's cameo, the playful spot follows Walken as people imitated his unique voice and speaking cadence. Walken makes a quick mention that the i5 is electric, but the vehicle is largely a background presence as the story follows the actor.

Walken was a fit for several reasons. Pagenstert said he will appeal to some in the brand's core demographic, plus he's been in the spotlight with a recent appearance on "Saturday Night Live" and an upcoming turn in the film Dune: Part Two. 

The December rollout of the i5, Pagenstert said, coincided perfectly with the Super Bowl. He said filming the spot in downtown Los Angeles, where paparazzi are always on patrol, meant the crew had to set up barriers and curtains to keep the high-profile production under wraps.

"There's certain rules with Super Bowl. You want to inject some sense of humor, you need that celebrity factor, it needs to be creative," Pagenstert said. "It needs to stand out from the crowd of advertisers, and I think we've done it in a very BMW way. It feels premium, is very upbeat, it's positive. And the statement 'There's only one Christopher Walken. There's only one ultimate driving machine' just works really well."

Basing a Super Bowl spot on an EV continues a trend for BMW, which advertised the iX crossover and the now-discontinued i3 in its last two appearances, in 2022 and 2015.

Kia centers this year's commercial, called "Wish I Was Here," on a young figure skater performing for her grandfather watching from inside his home. The EV9 saves the day by powering the lights and speaker outside.

This was the girl's first commercial, and to avoid making her too nervous, she wasn't told it was for the Super Bowl, said Russell Wager, vice president of marketing for Kia America.

Wager said not having a celebrity in the ad helps viewers concentrate on its premise.

"We want people to focus on the story, to get emotionally engaged in the story, and anytime you [have] a celebrity, yeah, they help draw you in, but are they taking away from the story?" Wager said. "We just seem to feel that we can tell a better story that connects with people without having a celebrity."

The ad aims to tackle misconceptions about electric vehicles by demonstrating that the EV9 can perform like a gasoline-powered model. It's shown traversing snowy off-road terrain, and its three-row layout illustrates that EVs don't have to be small, Wager said.

Although the EV market isn't growing as fast as some in the industry hoped, Wager said the moment was still right to make the Super Bowl investment and build awareness for the EV9, which went on sale in December.

"When people are thinking about getting an electrified car, they think, 'I should consider Tesla,' " Wager said. "We want to be the next word after that, so this is why we're doing it."

Toyota's 30-second ad puts a comedic focus on the Tacoma's grab handles as passengers hold on during wild excursions. The passengers are actors, but their reactions are genuine, said John Payne, executive creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi, Toyota's agency.

The scenes weren't rehearsed, Payne said, and the production crews just captured the actors' responses.

Stunt coordinator Greg Tracy helped the agency figure out "what's going to be the most challenging thing that our professional drivers can handle that is also going to shock and surprise the actors," Payne said. "The drivers were all pros, but the people in the passenger seat, they're just regular folks. They're actors, but they're not accustomed to going up a steep incline where all you see through the windshield is blue sky and you don't know where the end is."