This year’s Super Bowl had its star-studded moments. But as far as blockbuster car advertising, it was a lackluster year compared to previous ones. There were a total of just four national car ads—one for Kia’s Telluride X-Pro, and the other three all for electric vehicles (EV) or plug-in hybrids. Last year there were a record seven EV ads alone.
Perhaps the most memorable one of the night was Dodge’s “Premature Electrification” ad for the Ram 1500 REV, marking the company’s first electric pickup truck. In fact, all three EV ads were for trucks—Jeep sponsored the half khbrknews and GM ran its third annual Will Ferrell-loves-EVs segment, this khbrknews in partnership with Netflix—reflecting America’s enduring love of the pickup truck.
But missing were Super Bowl staples, and leaders in the EV market, Ford and Toyota. So why the dearth of EV ads this year—particularly in light of them being ever more popular?
It could simply come down to how companies are prioritizing the way they spend money, say experts.
“Clearly inflation is an issue. It’s impacting not only every day Americans but companies such as automakers, as well. Every one of them I’m sure is being very careful about their spending on advertising,” says Christie Schweinsberg, senior editor at WardsAuto.com, which conducts industry analysis.
“The industry needs to … normalize the notion of people driving EVs, or in the case of the Jeeps, plug-in hybrids. That sort of public-service announcement aspect, I think, was done quite well last year,” she adds. “I think many [manufacturers] didn’t feel the need to repeat it, at such a high cost just 12 months later.… There are more cost-effective platforms automakers can utilize to promote going…
