The Volvo spin-off EV company Polestar aired its first Super Bowl ad Sunday, and it’s blunt.
For 30 seconds, we see the dark outline of the Swedish company’s Polestar 2 electric sedan with a flashing list of things Polestar and its marketing team aren’t willing to do to get people to go electric and buy its $45,000 (and up) car.
The spot is silent save for some ominous background music, and starts out by calling out “epic voice overs” and goes on to not-so-subtly drag Volkswagen, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and basically every over-the-top Super Bowl commercial from Budweiser’s Clydesdales to star-studded Pepsi promos.
It packs a lot of (fair) judgment into the half minute segment, blasting companies for greenwashing, hidden agendas, and empty promises.
But it’s still an ad. No sugar coating.