The best car ads from the 2022 Super Bowl

The Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals go head-to-head this Monday (Sunday American time) for Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Los Angeles, California.

The American Football Super Bowl (think AFL Grand Final on steroids) has an audience of over 103 million people worldwide, the majority of which are in the US. With viewership like that, advertising during the game commands big dollars. It is reported that this year, NBCUniversal is charging advertisers $6.5 million to run a 30-second ad with millions more spent on production and digital ads. 

So, if you’re planning on spending that type of dough to advertise to the biggest engaged TV audience in the world, you better put on a fantastically memorable show. Things we’ve come to expect from Super Bowl ads are big-name celebrity cameos, funny storylines and memorable moments.

In the COVID era though, some major car brands including Kia, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen who traditionally advertised during the Super Bowl decided to take a break and instead direct their large budgets to more sensible initiatives. This year some are making a comeback.

So which car brands decided to splash the cash in 2022? Here are the top car-related ads from the 2022 Super Bowl LVI for your viewing pleasure.

This article updates. More to be added as we hit Super Bowl Sunday (Monday AEDT).

BMW hasn’t advertised during the Super Bowl since 2015 when it promoted the i3, so after a 6-year hiatus, they're back with a bang. For 2022 the German carmaker is highlighting its all-new electric SUV, the iX and has called up former California governor and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to portray the Greek god of lightning, Zeus, and fellow Hollywood star Salma Hayek playing his wife, the goddess Hera.

It's a really cheesy story of essentially two baby boomers retiring and moving from Mt Olympus to Palm Springs, California and adjusting to life as 'normal people'. Life gets better when Hera shows up with a new BMW iX which Zeus falls in love with straight away. The couple drives off into the distance singing along to Eddy Grant's classic tune Electric Avenue.

Chevrolet’s New Generation ad has a very familiar TV theme song from cult classic HBO’s “The Sopranos” to help showcase its new generation of EV.

The US car brand rebooted and updated the opening titles of the show to feature the daughter of Tony Soprano instead of the mob boss, played by the late James Gandolfini. Meadow Soprano, played by Jamie-Lynn Sigler, is driving a new electric Chevrolet Silverado instead of her father’s 1999 Chevrolet Suburban SUV.

Many of the same shots of the original introduction were created with the addition of more shots of the new EV, charging stations, as well as Meadow with a lollipop instead of a cigar like her father had.

Two decades after the last instalment of the Austin Powers franchise, GM has brought Dr Evil back to life for its EV centric Super Bowl ad. Mike Myers is back as Doctor Evil, Mindy Sterling as Frau Farbissna, Seth Green as Scott Evil and Rob Lowe as Number Two.

Dr Evil and co have taken over GM and want to use their EV platform for evil, but turns out that Climate Change is now the number one threat to the world, making Dr Evil number two. The ad promotes the company's Ultium EV platform which is birthing such vehicles as the new Chevrolet Silverado EV and Cadillac Lyriq.

Kia's Super Bowl ad stars an extremely cute robotic dog in its push for the new electric Kia EV6. As well as the adorable animated Robo dog, the use of Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" as the soundtrack to the story will well and truly pull at the heartstrings.

The Robo dog spots the EV6 and its owner and instantly falls in love and chases them through the city until the dramatic crescendo of the dog running out of battery. Kia is making its return after sitting out of the game in 2021. 

Nissan's Super Bowl ad is a truly weird celeb-packed story arc that has something for everyone. It starts with Nissan ambassador Brie Larson arriving on set in a new Nissan Z. Eugene Levy (known by many as Johnny Rose from Schitt's Creek) spots her and the car, and is impressed. Larson offers him the keys to take it for a spin and before we know it, the mild-mannered Canadian goes from Johnny Rose to Vin Diesel.

There's also a fun cameo by fellow Schitt's Creek star Catherine O'Hara who is driving a Nissan Ariya EV SUV. Suddenly, everything turns into a big-budget action film with a long-haired Levy at the wheel. It turns out it was an action movie all along! Now that's a twist.

New EV kid on the block, Polestar makes its debut in the Super Bowl ad game with a 30-second spot airing in the first quarter of the game. The ad centres around Polestar’s ethos of ‘no compromises’ and features the Polestar 2, carsales Car of the Year Highly Commended for 2021.

Just like its vehicles, the ad does away with the traditional cliches used for Super Bowl advertising. Staying true to Polestar’s minimalist brand identity, the graphical ad is visually simple, allowing punchy words in white on black to share the message.

What happens when you have a brand new Toyota Tundra pick-up and a lot of celebrities with the last name Jones? You create a fun blockbuster Super Bowl ad. And that is what Toyota has done in its promotion of their vehicle. The ads feature Hollywood Joneses including Leslie Jones, Rashida Jones and Tommy Lee Jones.

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