2015 Super Bowl car ads dwindle

We had fun looking at the best and worst TV ads created specifically for the 2014 Super Bowl, the 'grand final' of the NFL season in the US. Almost every car company had spent millions on airing their adverts, which often cost oodles to make on top of the $US4 million per 30 seconds to air them during the game.

The game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks takes place on Sunday February 1 in the US, screening in Australia on the morning of Monday February 2, 2015, and is one of the world's most-watched sporting events. A certain portion of the viewers will have no interest in American football and simply watch for the big-budget TV ads.

In 2014 almost every car maker represented in the US had a TV ad made specifically for the Super Bowl, resulting in record spending.
This year there is a handful of interesting car commercials (see them below) but for reasons not completely clear there has been a significant drop in car makers' spending directed towards Super Bowl TV advertising in 2015.

There's even a chance that no major US car company will show specialised ads for the 2015 Super Bowl, with Ford and GM to sit it out. According to Fortune.com, Jeep/Chrysler will make an announcement this weekend about its intentions.

As listed below, Kia, BMW, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz have each put in a strong showing, while Nissan, Toyota and Lexus are also confirmed to wow the hundreds of millions of viewers who will tune in. However Audi has decided not to get involved in 2015, the first time it's chosen to do so in seven years.

The US car market has finally rebounded from the depths of the 2008 financial crisis, with almost 17 million vehicles sold in 2014 coming close to an all-time record for the country, and the Super Bowl had its highest national audience ever in 2014.

So why are car company's turning their backs on the Super Bowl? The ads are expensive to make and show for a start, and online and social media are increasingly eating into big advertising budgets that were traditionally reserved for television.

Despite many car makers deciding not to develop blockbuster ads for the Super Bowl, the event is one of the most-watched annual sporting events in the world, with around 110 million viewers in the US alone in 2014, and plenty more globally. Here's a few of the car ads that will be shown at Super Bowl XLIX in 2015…

Kia: The Perfect Getaway
Kia has enlisted former 007 secret agent actor Pierce Brosnan to sell its new Sorento, in a clever ad dubbed "The Perfect Getaway" featuring snipers, missile launchers and explosions – just not in the way you might expect.

BMW: Newfangled Idea
BMW will spruik its i3 electric car during the Super Bowl via two of American morning TVs most-loved stars, Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric. Referencing the oddities of the Internet in 1994 and comparing to the new EV paradigm, BMW's video has already scored more than four million views on Youtube.

Mercedes-Benz: Fable
This advert created for the Super Bowl promotes the all-new Mercedes-AMG GT S and leverages Aesop's tortoise and hare fable – with a significance twist. It's had around 2 million views on Youtube but has been criticised for several inconsistencies, such as using the term 'turtle' and the fact that tortoises shouldn't be given driver's licences.

Volvo: The Greatest Interception Ever
Volvo's Super Bowl ad is, well, perplexing. Largely because it probably won't be shown at the Super Bowl. But the company has devised a clever competition where viewers are encouraged to tweet about "the person that most matters to you" whenever they see a car advert during the big game. The winner gets a brand-new Volvo XC60 SUV.

Toyota: To Be a Dad
This video is an extended cut of what will be shown during the Super Bowl and (amazingly) features one static image of the new Camry. The ad interviews former and current NFL stars and what they cherished about their fathers, but also how they want to father their own children. It tugs at the heart-strings, this one, and has had around two million views on Youtube already.