Best car commercials from the 2024 Super Bowl

As the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers go head-to-head in Las Vegas in the 58th Super Bowl there’s another contest underway – the battle for your attention during the commercial breaks.

This year’s Super Bowl is charging US$7 million for a 30-second spot in-between the on-field action. The ratings are expected to be stronger than normal for the game, thanks to the expected presence of Taylor Swift, the musical superstar who is in a relationship with Chiefs player (and Alpine F1 shareholder, Travis Kelce).

While there may be some surprise additions during the game, most company’s pre-release their ads for maximum exposure, so here are what the car companies have come up with for this year’s big game.

BMW

There are a few ways to grab the audience’s attention, one is an obvious celebrity star and another is to make it funny. BMW opted to do both to promote its new-generation 5 Series and all-electric i5, drafting in Christopher Walken… and a lot of impersonators.

Toyota

The Japanese brand also went down the path of humour, but skipped the big name celeb. Instead, the car, in this case the new Tacoma ute, is the main attraction.

Kawasaki

Business in the front and party in the back – the credo of the mullet. And, it seems, the new Kawasaki Ridge side-by-side. There’s plenty of humour (obviously) thanks to some mullet-ed animals and a fun cameo from former wrestling star, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin.

Kia

The other method of attracting attention during the Super Bowl commercials is to tug at the heartstrings.Kia opted for this method with its ‘Perfect 10’ spot to promote its new all-electric EV9 SUV. It’s a tear-jerker, which does a nice job of promoting the brand’s vehicle-to-load functionality (although, if we’re being cynical, why does a single-dad with one child need a seven-seat SUV?)

Volkswagen

The German brand also went down the emotional route to celebrate 75 years of doing business in America. The ad features the help of Neil Diamond, Bart Simpson and even a nod to its own now-iconic 2011 Super Bowl commercial, with a mini Darth Vader.