General Motors' Buick returns to the Super Bowl to build on the "That's not a Buick" campaign that mocks outdated misperceptions of it. The setting is a pee-wee football game. "If that's a Buick, then my kid is Cam Newton," one of the player's dad's says as a Buick rolls into the parking lot. Then, of course, his kid transforms into the NFL star.
It's wasn't the first time a Super Bowl ad transformed an amatuer football player into a celebrity; see also the classic 2010 Snickers Betty White ad that showed a quarterback suddenly appear as Abe Vigoda ("Game").
The ad also stars supermodel Miranda Kerr. In Super Bowl 50, Buick's "Wedding" featured New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and actress/model Emily Ratajkowski.
Buick originally secured 30 seconds in Super Bowl LI but expanded its buy to a full minute for the spot. The ad was created by Publicis Groupe's EngageM-1, which was formed in 2016 when the Detroit offices of Leo Burnett and DigitasLBi were combined into a single unit to handle the GM account.
The ad went live online Jan. 31, the Tuesday before the game.
BRAND: Buick
YEAR: 2017
AGENCY: EngageM-1
SUPERBOWL: LI
QUARTER AIRED: 1