2022 Super Bowl car ads: Touchdowns, field goals, and fumbles

[Hagerty]

So much time and effort go into prepping for the Super Bowl. There's brainstorming, planning, assessment, and adjustment-and sometimes readjustment. Even when victory seems assured, sometimes the big game arrives and things just don't go the way you'd planned. Know what we mean, Irish Spring? Wait, did you think we were talking about football?
https://www.hagerty.com/media/entertainment/2022-super-bowl-car-ads-touchdowns-field-goals-and-fumbl...

[Oldroad1]

Yes the Anthem. Should only be performed by a military brass band. When people try to sing it acapella they turn it into an epic LP opera.

[TG]

The Z commercial and Dr. Evil were my top 2 with Sopranos being a close third
The only one of them that I would say did a good job of selling the car though was the Z commercial - probably because it was the only one that sounded like a car should, and I would swear I saw evidence of actual shifting in one of the scenes
They pushed the electric car theme and the 'can't we all just get along' theme pretty hard (wasn't surprised) but it did take the fun factor out of a lot of the commercials

[Tim]

Having never watched the Sopranos (horrors, I know! 😄), that one was lost on me. I read that some others missed the Dr. Evil connection. This calls to mind the perils of tapping into nostalgic references for ads. However, I would that thought more people would have been aware of the Austin Powers movies and characters. It's definitely a tricky balance. If the reference is too new and maybe it only tracks with a limited audience that knows about it. If it's too old, maybe it is remembered only by a certain generation. If it's neither, maybe it's considered tired and played out.

[Tim]

I didn't see all of the commercials, but I thought BMW's Zeus commercial played better than Kia's EV commercial and several others. Nissan's Z commercial was a little fun, but it felt over-the-top without a real point.

I thought the GM Dr. Evil commercial was clever and fun and would have given it a field goal. Vroom's commercial was a fumble. It seemed like a classically misguided over-budget Super Bowl commercial. I had no idea what the point was and no interest in re-watching it to figure it out.

Weather Tech's commercial seemed like it was influenced by the advertising firm, which should be fired: "You're spending $4M on the spot, so you need to spend equally big on the production." They spent a lot of money on a dumb idea that didn't connect to the product at all.

[PecosBill]

During Weather Tech's ad I mentioned to the wife, "oh I have their phone cup holder". She replied at the same time as the wife in ad, with same question, where's mine?

[MATTMERICA]

All the commercial sucked. Plain and flat-out sucked. Not funny, not cute, not even galvanizing. Just stupid and poorly conceptualized. It is a good thing some folks are all-in on EVs, because those commercials wouldn't make me do anything but inquire as to who the surgeon was who worked on Selma Hayek most recently, because she, uh, looked very different.....

[Spudsly]

Ooops you have to turn this list almost upside down. BMW fumble... and Nissan was a Pick ^ ! ...

[Spudsly]

Nissan was not a fumble maybe a Pick 6 ! for a TD

[k80clay]

Guess I missed the "We don't have what you want to buy and our dealers are adding 30% to the sticker of what they do have....tough luck and thanks" ad.

[Snowman59]

Unless I’m thinking of a Silverado commercial I watched during the Olympics right after the Superbowl, my all time favorite is where the dad is explaining the truck’s camera system to his daughter and boyfriend sitting in the rear seat informing them how he can watch for funny business going on – and then asking them “Do you see any funny business going on?” The look on the daughter’s face is priceless.

[DMcC]

--- plus the sideways glance and expression from the wife character.

[Huntz-Hall]

Levy & the Nissan Z does it for me!

[69RoadRunner]

Done with the arcs and sparks cars and trucks ads. However having watched Schitts Creek, I do appreciate the humor in the Nissan ad. But that's all

[drhino]

As a 61 year old that (happily) knows nothing about pop culture (and didn’t know who most of these folks even were); my reaction to the majority of the commercials was irritation and confusion. And this goes for all the ads. Oh well—I know my place. I’m as far from the target audience as this stuff gets, including the halftime show. (How dented were the hoods of those cars, and did the owners know that idiots would be dancing on them?) The only commercial that showed promise was the Z. Then it devolved into the typical “cars defying physics” crap that infects everything. I realize it was a parody; but still.

An aside, how long has it been since a car commercial actually said anything about the way the damn thing DRIVES!? I know, that’s the least important thing now.

[RG440]

How soon people forget how to have and make a lasting impression on preparing a auto commercial for the Super Bowl… Dodge’s from years past…. 1st ones 2015, second ones 2014… That’s how’s its done !

https://youtu.be/hHpnq4G7-tE

https://youtu.be/Le7nm7JNVk8

[MoparMan]

Hadn't seen either of those commercials, but, boy! did they resonate with me! 🙂

[Hymie60]

I missed some of the car commercials, cause I turned off the t.v. When the halftime show started. Glorifying rappers who sing mainly about killing cops. The NFL should be ashamed promoting these idiots. Car ads I saw were lame, the push for EV was annoying.

[1d1a2d2a]

Hahaha, the commercials are fun and funny, but thinking charging electric cars are the solution is even funnier. Good luck, your just playing right into their other hand. Me, I'm buying a farm and raising horses. Should have stuck with them.

[OldCarMan]

WORST year ever for commercials, especially vehicles!
Only exceeded by the most cliched and boring halftime show!!!

[442xcar]

All the Electric Golf Car ads reminded me of "The New Coca Cola". The race to bankruptcy begins....

[OldFordMan]

It seems that Ford and a few others were the winners cuz they saved their money and didn't put some crap like this on!

[Oldroad1]

Maybe cause Ford EVs ain't moven off the lot. Since the MACH EV was introduced I've seen exactly one while driving. It had a dealer plate.

[Buzz]

I don’t know if anybody else caught it, but the Kia commercial with the robot dog was absolute advertising idiocy. Cloaked in a cute little robot dog story is the subliminal message that YOU HAVE TO CHARGE YOUR KIA TWICE TO GET ACROSS TOWN!!! Cracked me up. What the actual hell! Battery life/max travel distance on a charge is one of the top apprehensions new car buyers have about electrics. I know they didn’t mean to send that message, but Kia really screwed the pooch on that one.

[buellerdan]

Bring back the Budweiser Clydesdales.......and good officiating.

[Mogowner]

A PVR helps with avoiding these commercial wastes of viewing time. We live in a world of technology, most of which interests me little, but, this device gets lots of use in our house, and allows viewing without the aggravation.

[MrKnowItAll]

I was in the garage, working on one of my cars. The Stupor Bowl didn't waste any of my time, couldn't care less.

[Zoomer]

I have to think the number of NBC company ads showed they didn't have as many buyers as they wanted.

[TA76]

Game not bad. Commercials - I would be ashamed if I had anything to do with them None made even a smattering a lasting impression. Oh and that was the all time worse halftime show. hope they fix the cars. Oh ya the owners are putting them on the market as is with dents from the Super Bowl - I'll bet.

[DanC]

Chevy should have just waited a few weeks and put the second Walter the cat on for the super bowl.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3ta5Q3ITUc

[fredwhyzer]

The electric cars are toilets. They are bulbous and catch on fire. The technology has been around for 150 years now. I'm old and hate them. They can shove the "stop-start" feature way on up. Volvo and Saab people were the goody-two-shoes in my day. Now, it's the electric car people. Ugly is just in their genes. Halle Berry could probably convince me to buy one. If she came with it.

[KwikDraw]

The Nissan commercial was a waste and I did not find it to be entertaining. I love the Z cars, but when that commercial ended I really didn't know what it was advertising. I did not realize that we the new Z car.

And the KIA robo dog. So what Kia wanted was to associate their products with the idea of replacing real living animals and our love for animals with a surrogate, soulless, robotic dog? Are they trying to say that the new electric cars are soulless versions of our real cars? Yep, that makes me want an electric car.

And the Dr. Evil ad. . . It didn't make sense and it was not funny. Maybe somebody found it to be funny. I guess we are to believe that Dr. Evil is going to save us from climate change - but he has ulterior motives? That is the most honest part of any of the ads, the fact that we are being sold climate change but the people pushing it on us really have ulterior motives. I won't get political here, but if I did have to explain it to you then you probably wouldn't understand it anyway. Just think Covid hysteria and masks. (Yes, Covid is real. But no, our politicians aren't implementing their requirements "for out safety.")

[FigueroB]

Out of an abundance of caution, I didn't watch the Superbowl.

[mvillmer]

Hmm. Dr Evil was my favorite and a big hit at our party, though we were all tired of the EV push by then. And we all enjoyed half time too. Weird.

[roadio55]

I loved the Robo Dog ad. I'm already intrigued by the EV6 and was enjoying the ad even before I found out the product. Arnold's ad was awful. They took so long to show the car that I didn't care anymore. Who the heck is Polestar? The Brothers ad was definitely the most moving.

[Gary_Bechtold]

I skipped the Superbowl this year so this was the best superbowl in awhile for me. Sounds like I didn't really miss anything.

[VintageRacer477]

Most of them flubbed. I don't remember the Kia EV commercial at all. Yet, I like the look of the SUV and give them credit for doing the rear spoiler the right way—with a slot to draw air over the rear window to keep it clear of most dirt. We own a Porsche Macan S and it has a spoiler that sucks dirt into the negative pressure area at the back of the vehicle and keeps the rear filthy. Oh! You forgot to mention the commercial for the 1963 Chevy convertibles, a.k.a the Half-time show.

[Ajakeski]

No time for kneelers.

[prgrabs]

I'm glad there was a good football game because the ads pretty much sucked-it didn't matter if it was auto or otherwise. Glad to see Stafford win the big one cause here in Detroit he didn't stand a chance.

[PecosBill]

Kia's ad: Honestly thought that was a Sony AIBO dog and Sony was unveiling their electric buggy to the world.
GM RenCen and Sopranos ads were cringe worthy.
Ad spend winner? Tesla. Because we saw wannabee after wannabee.

[MoparMarq]

Spent the first half doing yardwork. The second half cleaning the gutters. Didn't see any of the game or ads, and don't miss it at all. Once again made my kids' Instagram for "what your dad does if he doesn't care about the Superbowl" (which was the goal). If I want to see an ad, that's what youtube is for.

[MustangJim]

Lots of good commercials. I liked the Nissan one the best.. but my wife, whose love of cars goes only as far as putting up with me commented on 2 of them. She asked "whats a Polestar"? and I can't belive thats a Kia, that is cool looking. And folks, that is the target of these ads. Not us.

[Gary_Bechtold]

To me Polestar is a terrible name.  What is a Pole Star?  Don't they call them strippers?  Is this like sanitation engineer being used for garbage man.

[BatmanRR]

I have to go with Zeus. I joined my next door neighbors for the only football game where you want to watch the commercials. Hanging out with them and their dogs. One of them has the name Zeus. A very warm and friendly Siberian Husky. When this ad was played, we all cracked up with laughter. Who cares about how good this BMW is? What does it cost? It is a BMW and I love my M3. Number one car ad for us!

[jdaum]

I am not big on super bowl commercials. Most I don't get. I was waiting for my favorite Chevy Silverado commercial about the guy that has a cat that acts like a dog. Now that is funny to me.

[MustangJim]

Thats a great commercial

[Chris2161]

I did what you are supposed to do during commercials. I urinated. And from what I just read here, I’m glad I did. Time well spent. And whichever of those commercials didn’t involve CGI (if any), that’s the one that would get my vote. Actual people in real places.
And half time? Took a dump.

[js100]

The Soprano E Avalanche ad would have been perfect if Tony had been driving, maybe hosing out the bed at the end? Guess that made more sense than a Clydesdale recovering from barbed wire in the Southwest, and old rappers in white boxes for a half-time show. Oh, and Polestar, let's have a conversation about human-rights abuses in your home country, if we are being honest.

[Oldroad1]

My mute button was smoken the entire game. I did notice Hagerty's picks are on YouTube where one has to watch a commercial so one can watch a commercial.

[CalvinOSU]

Typical comments section on a Hagerty article, largely pearl clutching & close mindedness.

Halftime show was great. Commercials are commercials. Bring on EVs for City driving (my Bolt does a great job at this), keep ICE for long trips (my Touareg TDI is great at this & tows my MasterCraft beautifully), quit complaining and enjoy life.

[Aquay_Mizmo]

I hate seeing every car ad being about EV BS, but I was at a big party and the Dr. Evil Chevy ad was a huge hit.