Will Ferrell in “No Way, Norway”.
Source: General Motors
Boy, that escalated fast.
A Super Bowl ad campaign with “Anchorman” actor Will Ferrell shone the spotlight on Norway as the world’s envy for the adoption of electric vehicles. An initial set of teasers released by General Motors Co. drew the attention of Prime Minister Erna Solberg, and now the country’s climate minister is inclined to do a little singing.
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“Norway is not the best of all these worlds. But on electric vehicles, we are actually the best, ”Sveinung Rotevatn, who has been in the role for just over a year, told Bloomberg News. “There is no one who is close to selling as many as we are.”
Norway became the first in the world to see the confiscation of electric cars a majority of annual vehicle sales last year, with consumers picking up Audi e-tron SUVs, Tesla Model 3 batteries and Nissan Leaf hatchbacks. December was a record month for the electric vehicle market share of 67%. The country wants all cars sold there to have zero emissions by 2025.
GM the first videos played Ferrell hating the Nordic nation for no apparent reason. In one, he makes a farcical call to order 5 million anchovy pizzas for the whole country. Solberg posted on Twitter a thank you a day later, although he asked the actor to send the pineapple pizza instead and told him to make 5.4 million.
The reason for Ferrell’s hostility was fully revealed The 90-second spot launched Wednesday. The actor hits Norway by selling far more electric vehicles per capita than the US and tells two other comedians, Kenan Thompson and Awkwafina, to jump in. a Hummer and meet him on the other side of the Atlantic. I arrive in Sweden and Finland by mistake.
A 60-second version will be released in the first quarter of Sunday’s Super Bowl, as GM’s latest bid to raise awareness of its EV efforts. The Detroit automaker has budgeted $ 27 billion for electric and autonomous vehicles and last month changed its corporate logo for the first time in almost six decades to better emphasize its focus on electrification. LeBron James and the electric Hummer played in the Super Bowl commercial last year.
Rotevatn, a fan of Ferrell and the roles he has played over the years, including Ron Burgundy, received a blow from the GM commercial. The media, politicians and delegations from other countries have been interested in how Norway has convinced car buyers to become electric. He believes that EVs should have a competitive advantage in the form of favorable tax treatment.
“When we – a rather rocky, quite cold and quite scattered country – manage to succeed with the policy on electric cars, then it is obvious that it offers substantial ammunition to those in other countries who ask their authorities: Why can’t we do this? Rotevatn said.
While there is a political discussion in Norway about how long the benefits of electric cars should last, there is a consensus on at least one issue.
“Like the prime minister,” Rotevatn said, “I prefer the pineapple.”