Watch Will Ferrell in GM’s Netflix-themed Super Bowl ad

The actor invades 'Bridgerton,' 'Stranger Things,' 'Squid Game' and other Netflix hits in the spot

Published On
Feb 07, 2023

Editor's Pick

As General Motors puts its electric vehicles in Netflix shows, the automaker and streamer will pay close attention to context. So, for instance, jamming one into “Stranger Things”—set in the 1980s when mainstream EVs were unheard of—makes no sense. And squeezing another into the 1800s world of “Bridgerton” would be even more preposterous.

Will Ferrell makes these points in the automaker’s Super Bowl ad, which was released today and plugs the deal GM and Netflix announced last week. “Should they add EVs everywhere? They shallan’t,” he says in one scene, as he clumsily tries to fit into the Regency-era England set of “Bridgerton.” Similarly, “Stranger Things” character Erica Sinclair tells him in her sassy style that he is “ruining the show” when he shows up dressed as Dustin Henderson in a Chevy Silverado EV.

The ad goes for plenty of laughs, including one scene that shows Ferrell being attacked by zombies from “Army of the Dead.” But GM is using it for a serious business priority—gaining mainstream acceptance for electric vehicles by putting them in binge-worthy shows, or “normalizing” them, which is how GM Global Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Wahl put it last week while announcing the deal.

The ad, which was handled by The Community with support from McCann Detroit, was directed by David Shane via O Positive.

It will air Sunday during the second quarter. Other shows referenced in the ad include “Love is Blind” and “Queer Eye.” GM EVs have already begun appearing in those programs.

Credits

Date
Feb 07, 2023
Client :
General Motors
Client :
Netflix
Agency :
The Community
Global CCO & Founder :
Joaquin Molla
Chief Creative Officer :
Frank Cartagena
Executive Creative Director :
Lucas Bongioanni
Creative Director :
Guilherme Grossi
Creative Director :
Gabriel Gama
Creative Director :
Federico Diaz
Creative Director :
Juarez Rodrigues
Creative Director :
Ian Reichenthal
Associate Creative Director :
Ruth Bellotti
Associate Creative Director :
Marcelo Maciel
Writer :
Chris Henchy
Writer :
Harper Steele
EVP Head of Integrated Production :
Laurie Malaga
Executive Producer :
Chris Parke
Associate Producer :
Diana Sanchez
CEO :
Luis Montero
President :
Marci Miller
Group Brand Lead :
Jessica Patino
Management Supervisor :
Veronica Salgueiro
Brand Supervisor :
Jesse Cirillo
Brand Associate :
Isabelle Feanny
EVP Chief Strategy Officer :
Lee Maicon
VP Brand Strategy :
Anthony Mariello
Associate Connections Director :
Katya Kotlyar
Associate Connections Director :
Jacqueline Hernandez
VP Legal & Business Affairs Operations :
Natalie Greenman
Sr Business Affairs Manager :
Daphne Papadopulos
Proofreading Manager :
Ursula Muro
VP Communications and PR :
Kara Stockton
Global CMO :
Deborah Wahl
Global Brand Marketing :
Megan Stooke
Director Global Media & Marketing :
Heather Stewart
Head of Entertainment & Influencer Marketing :
Sarah Schrode
Entertainment & Influencer Marketing Manager :
Michael Patrick
Global Marketing Manager :
Susanne Hinz
Senior Marketing Manager :
Jennifer Hoffman
Assistant Marketing Manager :
Amanda Reuss
Product Brand & Initiative Communications :
Arianna Kughn
Director Brand Social and Digital Channel Communications :
Sarah Holm
Brand Digital Communications Social :
Jasmine Swain
Sr. Communications Manager :
Anne Roberts
Brand Digital Communications :
Cambrey Thomas
PR :
FleishmanHillard
Managing Supervisor :
Becky Hoffman
Managing Supervisor :
Noelle Tanner
Managing Supervisor :
Adriane Groggins
Account Supervisor :
Katie Conigliaro
Account Supervisor :
Janelle Greene-Todd
Account Supervisor :
Haylee Podrasky
Research Manager :
Rita Herbstman
Senior Account Executive :
Samantha Kennedy
Senior Account Executive :
Dani Bunch
Account Executive :
Natalie Schmickley
Talent Agency :
UTA Marketing
PR Agency :
Weber Shandwick
Partner Agency :
McCann-Detroit
Media Agency :
Carat
EVP Content :
Kerry Doyle
EVP Planning :
Theresa Thomas
SVP Planning :
Mary Angott
Assistant Media Director Planning :
Erin Brandewie
Production Company :
O Positive
Director :
David Shane
Executive Producer :
Ralph Laucella
Executive Producer :
Marc Grill
Head of Production :
Devon Clark
Line Producer :
Eric Liney
Editorial Company :
MackCut
Editor :
Gavin Cutler
Assistant Editor :
Louisa Phillips
Sound Design :
Sam Shaffer
Post Executive Producer :
Gina Pagano
VFX Company :
Framestore - NY
Executive Creative Director :
Aron Hjartarson
Creative Director :
Victoria Osborn
VFX On-Set Supervisor :
Sean Dollins
VFX On-Set Supervisor :
David Sudd
Lead Flame :
Devon Taylor
Lead Flame :
Kenzi Parker
Lead Compositor :
Karch Coon
Lead CG Artist :
Patrick Ross
2D VFX Artist :
Jasen Aziz
2D VFX Artist :
Alex Harding
2D VFX Artist :
Alex Ling
2D VFX Artist :
Corrina Wilson
2D VFX Artist :
Danny Noren
2D VFX Artist :
Dave Chen
2D VFX Artist :
Sebastien Boulange
2D VFX Artist :
Ryan Ninko
CG Artist :
Mike Papagni
CG Artist :
Minchung Cho
CG Artist :
Nicolas Copete
CG Artist :
Patrick Ross
CG Artist :
Rui Yang
CG Artist :
Sean Curran
CG Artist :
Francisco Diaz
CG Artist :
Erik Zimmerman
CG Artist :
John Montefusco
CG Artist :
Aaron Lawn
CG Artist :
Alejandro Perez
CG Artist :
Adam Thompson
CG Artist :
Frankie Siegel
CG Artist :
Kevin Rooney
CG Artist :
Meghan Pangiochi
CG Artist :
Omar Taher
CG Artist :
Divyesh Shah
Digital Matte Painter :
Benjamin Walant
Digital Matte Painter :
Harry Wormald
Unreal Artist :
Veronica Ferrari Delphin
Unreal Artist :
Mohamed Ashraf
Online Editor :
John DiMare
Online Editor :
Jacob Sadowsky
Designer :
Daniel Petersen
VFX Executive Producer :
Nick Fraser
VFX Producer :
Christina Chung
VFX Production Coordinator :
Jack Doremus
Bidding Producer :
Nadia Brent
Virtual Production Company :
Eyeline Studios
President & CEO :
Stephan Trojansky
Executive Producer :
Perry Kain
Head of Production :
Eranka Weerasuriya
Virtual Production Supervisor :
Lukas Lepicovsky
Virtual Production Supervisor :
Joe Ponsford
Virtual Production Producer :
Connie Siu
Director of Imaging Technologies :
Gabriel Dedic
Unreal Engine Operator :
Anne Kim
Unreal Engine Operator :
Matthew Valverde
Unreal Engine Technician :
John Millward
Volumetric Capture Supervisor :
Jan Huybrechs
Volumetric Capture Operator :
Samuel Price
Volumetric Capture Operator :
Nicholas Otto
Motion Capture Stage Manager :
Ari Karczag
Motional Capture Stage Technician :
Jose Gayda Parino III
LED Technical Director :
Kevin Izumi
LED Technical Director :
Price Wells
Virtual Art Director :
Carlos Fueyo
Virtual Art Department :
Juliette Duncan
Virtual Art Department :
Mahmoud Hesham
Virtual Art Department :
Riley Morrissey
Virtual Art Department :
Jonathan Owen
Virtual Art Department :
Christian Pokorny
Virtual Art Department :
Jonathan Reynolds
Virtual Art Department :
Chris Suddaby
Volumetric Capture Processing :
James Anderson
Volumetric Capture Processing :
Brian Garrett
Volumetric Capture Processing :
Andrea Jamiel
Volumetric Capture Processing :
Rafal Janicki
Volumetric Capture Processing :
Eric Krausz
Volumetric Capture Processing :
Redmyn Lee
Volumetric Capture Processing :
Holo Moon
Volumetric Capture Processing :
Joana Pupeter
Volumetric Capture Processing :
Nicol Du Toit
Volumetric Capture Processing :
Florian Wehner
Virtual Production Department Manager :
Gaby Rios
Virtual Production Department Manager :
Quinlan Saule
Virtual Production Coordinator :
Lianette Alnaber
Virtual Production Coordinator :
Alex Chun
Virtual Production Coordinator :
Emma Selinski
Virtual Production Coordinator :
Marc Thorineau
Virtual Production Editor :
Brian Tong
Data Acquisition :
Eric Krausz
Data Acquisition :
Jeffrey Wilson
Director of Operations :
Sammy Clark
Assistant Stage Manager :
Kyler Friol
Head of Engineering :
Maxx Lee
IT :
Sunny Koya
VFX On-Set Supervisor :
Jessica Harris
VFX On-Set Supervisor :
Derek Spears
CG Supervisor :
Pablovsky Ramos
Associate VFX Producer :
Nathanael Horton
2D VFX Artist :
Jayson Davis
2D VFX Artist :
Cederic Estevao
2D VFX Artist :
Hyein Jeong
2D VFX Artist :
Don Kim
2D VFX Artist :
Yann Leroux
2D VFX Artist :
Charana Mapatuna
2D VFX Artist :
Ivanna Mikhaylova
2D VFX Artist :
Danellie Norgate
2D VFX Artist :
Elam Parithi
2D VFX Artist :
Michael Queen
2D VFX Artist :
Sofia Rioja
2D VFX Artist :
Jay Seo
2D VFX Artist :
Ken Stewart
2D VFX Artist :
Scott Vosvurt
2D VFX Artist :
Ed Walters
2D VFX Artist :
Thomas Warrender
2D VFX Artist :
Justin Wong
2D VFX Artist :
Natalie Yoo
2D VFX Artist :
Zach Zaubi
2D VFX Artist :
Michael Zemaitis
CG Artist :
Rosie Bang
CG Artist :
David Capon
CG Artist :
Pochien Chen
CG Artist :
Yu-Ju Chen
CG Artist :
Pedro Dietrich
CG Artist :
Azzard Gordon
CG Artist :
Hyunsug Han
CG Artist :
Jeong Han
CG Artist :
David Herfindahl
CG Artist :
SeGwang Jan
CG Artist :
Minhee Kim
CG Artist :
Bomin Lee
CG Artist :
Wei Ling Lee
CG Artist :
Mamta Mamta
CG Artist :
Joe Mangione
CG Artist :
Celleste Ng
CG Artist :
Chaeyeon Park
CG Artist :
Melvyn Polayah
CG Artist :
Patrick Redmond
CG Artist :
Carsten Schulte-Braucks
CG Artist :
Amreen Singh
CG Artist :
Mohan Singh
CG Artist :
Magnus Skagerlund
CG Artist :
Youngmin Son
CG Artist :
John Sparks
CG Artist :
Nithya Thangamani
CG Artist :
Niklas Varga
CG Artist :
Blair Werschler
CG Artist :
Sidney Yang
CG Artist :
Kaan Yilmax
CG Artist :
Clim Yip
VFX Department Manager :
Pierre Alexander
VFX Department Manager :
Mohamed Ali
VFX Department Manager :
Elena Boulankova
VFX Department Manager :
Laura Dart
VFX Department Manager :
Anuja Desai
VFX Department Manager :
Beata Gyermank
VFX Department Manager :
Giulia Spagni
Color Company :
Company3
Colorist :
Skip Kimball
Color Senior Executive Producer :
Ananda Reavis
Color Senior Producer :
Dan Butler
Color Producer :
Jared Arkulary
Color Senior Production Manager :
Ryan Dale
Color Assistant Production Manager :
Kent Bueno
Color Production Coordinator :
Jack Molitor
Color Production Coordinator :
Jake Grom
Color Short Form Lead Ops :
Cory Musselman
Color Prep Team :
Griffin Nasser
Music Company :
Duotone
Executive Music Producer :
Ross Hopman
Creative Director :
Peter Nashel
Sr Producer :
Gio Lobato
Composer :
Jordan Lieb
Composer :
Eric Hachikian
Sound Design Company :
Sonic Union
Sound Designer :
Steve Rosen
Audio Assistant :
Joey Glick
Audio Assistant :
Macey Estes
Executive Producer :
Patrick Sullivan
Mix Company :
Sonic Union
Audio Mixer :
Steve Rosen
Audio Mixer :
Julienne Guffain
Audio Assist :
Joey Glick
Audio Assist :
Macey Estes
Executive Producer :
Patrick Sullivan

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