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.
No. 10: VW Turbo Explained by Prom-Goers, 2002
Here’s one where the idea is great but the execution is awful. You never even see the car they’re talking about! Wha?!
No. 9: GM Suicidal Robot, 2007
This long ad was one of the biggest flops of the entire year for Super Bowl ads. People found it so confusing and depressing that GM had to alter the ending. Congrats, GM!
No. 8: BMW X5 People Jumping into Water, 2000 [Video can be viewed here]
You know what makes me think about a luxury SUV? Jumping off a cliff in the woods into what looks like some very cold water below. Yeah. That has a lot to do with a $50,000 BMW. A Whole Foods run might not have been as exciting, but at least it would have made sense.
No. 7: Lexus RX 400h Two Cars in One, 2006
Hey, check out the slow-motion footage of two cars colliding and making an RX 400h! Neat. Hey, it’s a hybrid. Cool. Are there any more chips left? When is the third quarter starting?
No. 6: Kermit the Frog Sings the Praises of Ford’s Escape Hybrid, 2006
OK, we get it — it’s green, it’s a hybrid. Did you have to ruin a childhood memory for us in communicating that? Super Bowl Sellouts = Led Zeppelin, Muppets…
No. 5: Toyota Camry Hybrid Bilingual Ad, 2006
This is the third hybrid ad on this list, and it’s got to be the worst attempt at the two-cars-in-one metaphor. It also slathers on some smug social commentary, just for good measure. Hey, we’re watching millionaires in tight pants and pads play a game in front of folks who paid $1,000-plus for a ticket; this is a no-preaching zone.
No. 4: Toyota Tacoma Invincible Seas, 2006
Because this was early in the era of digital video trickery, the concept was kind of cool. Looking back now, it’s just stupid. Just to be clear, no car would start after this, let alone float away in quite this way. Darn reality.
No. 3: Cadillac Escalade Fashion Show, 2006
Three short years after the “Break Through” boom, Cadillac positively bombed with this very expensive ad for the all-new Escalade SUV. We’re still unsure what it was aiming for here.
No. 2: GM Live Green, Go Yellow, 2006
Yep, “Go Yellow.” Does that sound like something good to you? It reminds me of something my dog would leave in the snow, not an environmentally friendly alternative fuel. Boy, was 2006 a bad year for Super Bowl commercials; at least the storylines in the game – rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and retiring Jerome Bettis getting rings – were better.
No. 1: Celine Dion Sings for Chrysler, 2003
If anyone wants to point to where Chrysler went wrong, it starts with this ad. Sure, the brand was trying to portray a luxury attitude, but this is the Super Bowl. No one wants to see Celine Dion sing during the Super Bowl. Now, if Terry Tate had sacked Celine midway through the song it would have been Super Bowl gold. Instead, it’s our pick for the worst Super Bowl car ad ever.
