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Carmakers Tone Down Electrification Push in Super Bowl Commercials, Tesla Benefits

This year’s Super Bowl ads showed that carmakers have toned down their EV message. Even so, it’s not clear who benefits, as Tesla searches surged at the exact moments the traditional automakers aired their commercials. This might indicate that the viewers strongly associate “electric vehicles” with Elon Musk’s company.
Carmakers tone down electrification push in Super Bowl commercials, Tesla benefits 6 photos
Photo: Popeyes via Youtube | Edited
Ram 1500 REV commercialJeep Electric Boogies commercialGM "Why not an EV" commercialKia Telluride commercialAnti-FSD Beta Super Bowl Ad Screenshot
If we compare this year’s Super Bowl car commercials with the ones from last year, one thing is becoming obvious: carmakers are less keen to show their electric vehicle prowess. There were outliers, but nothing like last year’s push. General Motors’ “Why not an EV?” commercial is a far cry from the “Dr. EV-il” commercial from 2022. Interestingly, GM has taken out the past year’s video from its YouTube channel, as if it doesn’t even want people to know about it.

Besides GM, we only have Stellantis and Kia as car content creators for this year’s Super Bowl. While Kia had a classic Big Game commercial, Stellantis’s pitch is rather interesting. On the one hand, it tries to promote the Jeep 4xe plug-in hybrid as being electric, which is not true. On the other hand, it speaks about “premature electrification” in its Ram clip promoting the new Ram 1500 REV. Although the truck is an “all-electric” vehicle, its name and the campaign might suggest Stellantis considers “range-lengthening technology,” aka range extender, to alleviate range anxiety.

Nevertheless, one particular carmaker skipping this year’s game (or any year’s game, at least so far) might be on everyone’s minds. Tesla is known for not paying for advertising, and nobody expected it to see a Tesla ad during the Super Bowl LVII. Nevertheless, the EV maker was very much present, thanks to the efforts of Dan O’Dowd’s Dawn Project and Popeyes. We’ve already discussed the former, so let’s focus on the other.

Popeyes commercial is interesting because it features a modified Tesla Model Y. Notice the straight door handles in the video below. Trained Tesla fans would also spot other details that differ from a Tesla Model Y, including a strange asymmetry on the right and left taillights. Man, Tesla’s quality control must really be bonkers these days. The video made some fans fantasize about a secret Model Y prototype Tesla might be working on.

Sorry to disappoint. The car in the video was most probably digitally altered to be presented in the commercial as a “generic EV.” It’s hard to do that with the Model Y, considering it’s the most popular EV in the world. But it’s surprising how sloppy the digital designers were in modifying the car. Nevertheless, while this is interesting and surely a boon to Tesla, there’s another key takeaway here. Tesla got plenty of free advertising, which goes beyond the Popeyes and Dawn Project videos.

In fact, even the carmakers promoting their own models were helping Tesla gain more brand recognition. Google Analytics shows Tesla search interest spiking in the moments following the airing of other carmakers’ commercials. Except for GM, the number of searches for the other brands that advertised during the Super Bowl barely moved. Even GM got far fewer hits than Tesla at the exact same time.

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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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