
Teaser trailers are beginning to dominate the Super Bowl ad landscape. Skittles teased its ad, which is apparently about men with big right arms, while Esurance responded to Progressive’s self-deprecating Kim Kardashian ad with a self-deprecating Lindsay Lohan ad. Automaker Nissan has gotten in on the act too after almost 20 years of opting not to make a Super Bowl commercial. It’s only a teaser so there’s obviously not a lot of info.
What we know so far is: a woman gives birth, a man drives a Nissan Nascar and says “with daaaaaad” in a slightly creepy way and Harry Chapin’s Cat’s in the Cradle provides the soundtrack. The automaker is saying it “can’t wait to share this emotional story” with football fans. It seems to be a common approach in the auto industry, with around half the ad space for this year’s big event being bought up by gearheads. Get ready to get emotional … about a car.
The pitch: Let’s show how families and Nissan go together like gasoline and engines.
The backstory: Nissan decides to break its 20-year Super Bowl silence with an “emotional” ad about cars and infants.
The social-media campaign: Lots of sponsored #WithDad videos on Youtube.
The reaction: Mostly dad and dealership approved.
#withdad is a celebration of dads who find exciting ways to make life better for their kids and families. See here: http://t.co/aipOwWZcgx
— Hummel's Nissan (@hummelsnissan) January 28, 2015
Kudos to @NissanUSA for surfacing such an important issue! http://t.co/lZ4VpcMPZQ #withdad
— Jason Brown (@jbrown321) January 28, 2015
Like the #withdad campaign. Message is right. Timing is right. Execution is right. But @NissanUSA is the wrong brand to deliver it.
— Joe Winn (@joewinn1984) January 28, 2015
