Nissan Cube Pops Up in Pepsi Super Bowl Commercial

Among the Super Bowl’s half-dozen automotive ads, Nissan might deserve an honorable mention. Halfway through Pepsi’s feel-good “Refresh Anthem” spot, we thought we were seeing a Nissan commercial: The Cube appeared opposite a late-60s Dodge A100 van in what we can only guess was the Venice Beach portion of Pepsi’s Dyl.i.am montage. (It’s 25 degrees outside our Chicago offices. No, we aren’t bitter.) It works, though we wonder how the eight or so beachgoers piling into the Dodge would fare in a five-seat Cube. Maybe Californians are just that much thinner.

We asked Nissan if there was a tie-in. There sure was, spokesman Darryll Harrison said. Pepsi contacted the automaker a few weeks ago to see if they could help with a “modern ‘refresh’ of the boxy, social vehicle,” he said. “We were happy to provide a Cube for the shoot.”

Neither party had to pay the other, Harrison said.

Makes sense, seeing as the agency that created the ad — Los Angeles’ TBWA\Chiat\Day — also represents Nissan. We haven’t heard back yet from either the agency or Pepsi. Though we thought the spot struck a hip-but-affable chord, reaction has been mixed. It came in No. 8 out of 50 Super Bowl commercials ranked in USA Today’s Ad Meter, but as of late Monday it had 3.5 out of five stars in YouTube’s Super Bowl ad user ratings, making it one of only seven commercials (out of 53) to rate under four stars.

The Best 2009 Super Bowl Car Commercials

While this year’s Super Bowl turned out better than 99% of prognosticators probably imagined, the commercials in between plays are always highly anticipated. Overall, it seemed crude humor ruled the day, but what about the car ads? We had a tough time liking any of them. The highest-rated car commercial on USA Today’s well-regarded Ad Meter was Audi’s, which hit No. 12. Unless of course you count Cars.com’s spot, which scored No. 6.

We’ll just stick to what we thought of the carmakers and their spots. Which ruled the big day? Check them out — with video — from worst to first below.

Genesis Super Bowl Ads Include Billy Corgan

Hyundai will air not one but five commercials during this year’s Super Bowl broadcast. Aside from being a rather impressive display of a healthy marketing budget, Hyundai hopes to capitalize on the Genesis’ recent win of being named 2009 North American Car of the Year.

The ads also pump up Hyundai’s new Assurance program, but the real kicker is watching the 2010 Genesis coupe careening around a racetrack to a Smashing Pumpkins tune. What Billy Corgan is doing writing music for a Genesis ad remains unclear, but luckily nothing about the spot makes you “mellon collie” or “infinitely sad” (I know, that was terrible).

Watch the Genesis-Smashing Pumpkins spot after the jump.

Toyota Airing Second Super Bowl Ad for Tundra

We were mildly surprised yesterday to learn that Toyota is going to air a Super Bowl spot for its all-new Venza crossover. Today, we’re simply blown away that the company — which today will report its first annual net loss in history — is spending another $3 million on a commercial for its full-size pickup, the Tundra.

Two years ago, Toyota used the Super Bowl to debut the redesigned Tundra. The series of commercials were well-received, showing off the truck’s capabilities in extreme tests. However, the reality of dismal sales of the truck recently — and failure to make a significant dent in the domestics’ hold on the segment — make the idea of showing it off in a Super Bowl commercial puzzling, to say the least.

Titled “Killer Heat,” the ad will show the Tundra in more extreme circumstances. We’ll have a full wrap-up of all the big game’s best and worst car commercials Monday morning, so see if Toyota can score with its two spots.

Toyota Super Bowl Commercial Asks, "Are You Venza?"

Well, are you? Are you Venza?

Using what could be the strangest automotive tagline since “The Fit is Go,” Toyota will launch a media campaign during the first quarter of Super Bowl XLIII for its new Venza crossover.

From the description, Toyota is going to position the Venza for folks who are into cool design.

We’re not sure about the approach, but the company spent some serious time investigating it.

"With the launch of Venza, we wanted to dig deeper, so we reached out for new research that combines cognitive neuroscience, anthropology and sociology," said a spokesperson from the ad agency.

We’ll see how that works Sunday. 

More Super Bowl Commercial Coverage

Cars.com's Super Bowl XLIII Commercial

Cars.com is back in the Super Bowl, and proud to present its all-new commercial, which is expected to debut during the second quarter. Watch the 60-second spot above — check out the high-quality setting, too — and let us know what you think in the comments.

This is the second year Cars.com has advertised during the Super Bowl. For you advertising buffs, the official title of the ad is “Lifetime of Confidence” and it follows the tale of David Abernathy through his exceptional young life, right up until he’s confronted with the one problem that he can’t solve on his own.

Audi A6 Heading To Super Bowl Ad

Jason Statham is trading in the Audi A8 he’s driven in the Transporter movie trilogy for a new a supercharged A6.  The ad, titled “Chase,” is patterned after a Hollywood car chase scene but with Statham running through time and classic cars that don’t get the job done, until he gets in the new A6.

Having just driven the 2009 A6 with the new 3.0-liter V-6 I have to say it is unbelievably quick. Not time-travel quick, but plenty fast for leadfoots.
The A6 is not really the company’s best-known, nor best-selling product. The 60-second spot – worth around $6 million – is a lot to invest in the model, but it will also build brand identity as Audi looks to continue stealing market share from BMW and Mercedes.

Related
Top 10 Super Bowl Car Commercials
Top 10 Worst Super Bowl Commercials

Top 10 Super Bowl Car Commercials

As Cars.com gears up for its second consecutive year advertising during the Super Bowl, we reflect on all the car commercials that have come before that have made the game such a monumental destination for selling wares and services. OK, we didn’t really look at every single ad, but we did take on the entire 21st century. You can check out our list of the Top 10 Worst Super Bowl Commercials here.

Top 10 Worst Super Bowl Car Commercials

With our favorite Super Bowl car commercials of the 21st century in the books, it’s time to look at the commercials that didn’t do quite as good a job of winning us over. If you’ve forgotten these truly awful ads, we’re sorry to remind you of them.