- With the United State’s annual Super Bowl championship kicking off, along comes the legendary longer-tail commercials made specifically for the Super Bowl season, reaching hundreds of millions of viewers across the States.
- This year, EV manufacturers are taking over, with OEMs including Volkswagen, Kia, and BMW all running adverts during the game season to promote their electric models.
- The roster of manufacturers paying a big premium for prime-time advertising proves that the EV revolution isn’t slowing down in the USA, and is being driven further forward.
We saw electric cars promoted on the Super Bowl advert breaks for the first time back in 2019, when Audi promoted the then-concept e-tron GT. Each year since, this trend of EVs taking over the advertising slots usually filled by combustion engined cars has continued, and for 2024 there are three big manufacturers taking up advertising time.
Volkswagen’s two-minute commercial goes through the history of the company’s 75 years within the US market, wrapping up the commercial with the electric Volkswagen ID.4 – which the ad is proud to mention that the EV is also now being manufactured locally in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Rachel Zaluzec, Senior Vice President for Customer Experience and Brand Marketing at Volkswagen America, said:
“With this short film, we are not just celebrating our history, but also embracing a future of innovation and sustainability. You’ll also find a few nods to past VW creative work – to give that signature wink we’ve become known for. It’s our way of saying ‘thank you’ to America for being a part of our story, and an invitation to stick with us as we embark on exciting new chapters.”
Meanwhile, Kia and BMW’s adverts have decided to focus on particular vehicles. Kia’s commercial, called Perfect 10, promotes the new EV9 electric SUV, showing off features such as its vehicle-to-grid (V2G) power generator. Meanwhile, BMW’s commercial, directed by the brains behind movies such as Oppenheimer and Interstellar, focuses on the all-electric i5 saloon, featuring Christopher Walken and Usher.
Russell Wager, Vice President of Marketing at Kia America, said:
“The Kia EV9 is electric like you’ve never seen, and ‘Perfect 10’ will introduce our groundbreaking three-row EV SUV to more than 100 million people with a heartwarming story about the power we all have inside of us, the power to make someone smile.”
Ade Thomas, Founder of Green.TV Media, said:
“The Super Bowl is the nation’s cultural showcase for new ideas, and to see EV being given such prominence is a foretelling that EVs are coming to the automotive mainstream in the U.S.”
We also reached out to Marc Coltelli, EY’s Americas & Global eMobility leader, who said:
“Electric vehicle adverts at the Super Bowl are significant because they represent a major shift toward sustainable transportation, captivating a massive audience with the promise of a cleaner, greener future. These adverts serve as a powerful reminder that the automotive industry is embracing innovation and environmental stewardship on a global stage, inspiring viewers to consider the potential of electric vehicles in reshaping the future of transportation.”
