Okay, I have to do this.
EV announcement by Will Ferrell Norway
First, there was the big announcement from Norway / Will Ferrell that came out a few days ago. I absolutely love Will Ferrell. So, yes, I don’t see any way for you to watch the ad and not enjoy Will Ferrell’s superb, unique and exciting comic glow. I smiled and loved that side, and so did my daughters. You can’t help but love Will Ferrell, and if you don’t love him, get off my lawn!
That said, the commercial was stupid (as in, illogical), confused (because it was illogical) and invited more shame than praise (because it was illogical in more profound ways than one might think at first). Let’s just scroll through a list of 10 reasons why the commercial was stupid:
- Yes, Norway is a world leader in the adoption of electric vehicles. This is something to celebrate, not something to be angry and try to crush. (I understand, the idea is to “crush” Norway by doing even better, but the ad itself focused on piercing a globe and trying to travel to the country to “crush” someone / something / Norway.)
- There is not crushing Norway in the adoption of EV. Norway has basically won. 81% of new car sales in Norway were sales of plug-in vehicles last month. 81%. The USA is around 2% or 3%. The United States is much less likely to reach Norway than the Kansas City Chiefs had to reach Tampa Bay Bucs after the break. (Spoiler alert: Tampa Bay brought home another Covid era trophy.)
- GM talking about its EVs and trying to talk to Norway is … beyond weird. Unlike several other companies (almost all other automakers, in fact), GM has only one electric vehicle on the market. It only sells the Chevy Bolt, as it has been doing for years. If you want to overdo some niche EVs, great, but don’t act like you’re coming to Norway.
- In case it is not obvious now, Norway is a country and GM is an automaker. Not only are they not in the same league; they are not even in the same sport. Norway deals with legislation, major efforts by the state to improve the lives of its citizens and prevent wars. GM makes trucks, SUVs and some cars. The breach of logic on this fundamental issue is just irritating. Countries do not compete with companies!
- In fact, if we Does I want to talk about legislation, however, GM has spent years trying to weaken fuel economy standards, fight lawmakers who have been working to “clean transport, “AND delay the adoption of EV. In fact, GM even supported the Trump administration in its fight against California’s fuel economy standards! GM has been working for years through lobbying and cultural messages specifically for not allowed a US EV market like Norway’s EV market is taking shape.
- Let me repeat: GM’s lobby and consumer communications are the main reasons why EV adoption in the US is a drug compared to EV adoption in Norway.
- Where did Keenan get his Hummer EV – it is not being produced yet, and it is certainly not available in Europe, where he probably rented it from UFODrive after flying there?
- By the way, where did Will get his Cadillac Lyriq, which is also not for sale? (Side note: I love Lyriq, by the way.)
- Even if these vehicles were on the market, they are so niche. These they are not mass-market electric vehicles! We are talking about a luxury SUV that a small number of people will buy and an electric Hummer, which even fewer people will buy. How it makes sense to anyone that these niche vehicles are going to somehow compete with the mass adoption of electric vehicles in Norway. (And again, let’s just point to # 4, as it is an irritating nonsense in the tried logic of this commercial.)
- What message should an uninformed viewer receive? This Norway is hard to find, it is cold and it sells a lot … um … what does it sell? This GM is bringing in some new electric vehicles that … well … did we learn anything about the vehicles? The commercial barely communicated any notable information.
- Will Ferrell heads for a container while boarding a ship bound for Norway. Then he is on the ship standing on the edge while he vomits with nausea. How does that make sense? He got stuck in the shipping container and couldn’t leave on the trip back to the United States.
Edward / Edgar Scissorhands – Double Ugh
Then, we received a strange reminder of an old film classic, a film that was released more than 30 years ago. So, we heard a lot of jokes about things you wouldn’t do well if you had scissor hands, things that Edgar Scissorhands certainly wouldn’t do unless he didn’t have a lot of brain cells. In the end, he could do something easily – drive a car – because the Cadillac was driving for him. Little explanation has been given as to why he was able to drive without stress as a result of the Cadillac SuperCruise. In fact, it was too short and too busy to define the basic point well.
The idea that Edgar can finally do something (drive) because he doesn’t have to do anything (the car drives itself) is at least consistent with GM’s other EV commercial in the sense that it makes no logical sense. Edgar Scissorhands is happy because he can drive without doing anything except pressing a button?
Did I like anything in this commercial? Well, for a brief moment, they show Lyriq in the garage, and he looks beautiful. It looks very good, especially with the cold lighting around the cargo door, which indicates that it is electric. If they had spent a little more time on this scene, I imagine it would help a lot more viewers to notice and it would be a more effective ad.
The other good thing about the ad is that it is memorable because it brings back a very memorable character – a Goth with big scissors instead of hands. If someone decides they want to watch the commercial again and find out what it is about, it will be easy to remember and find it again.
Overall, if I didn’t know what vehicles are about in commercials, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t understand what is special about them, apart from being new and expensive GM vehicles.
Yes, Will Ferrell is hilarious. That is all that GM vehicles had in their favor, in my humble opinion.
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