Will Ferrell in “No Way, Norway.”
Source: General Motors
Boy, that escalated quickly.
A Super Bowl ad campaign featuring “Anchorman” actor Will Ferrell has put Norway in the spotlight as the world is jealous of the adoption of electric vehicles. A first series of teasers released by General Motors Co. caught the attention of Prime Minister Erna Solberg and now the country’s climate minister is prone to crowing a bit.
Discover dynamic updates of Earth’s major data points
“Norway is definitely not the best in everything in the world. But when it comes to electric vehicles, we’re actually the best, ”Sveinung Rotevatn, who has been in the role for just over a year, told Bloomberg News in an interview. “There is no one who sells even as much as we do.”
Norway became the first in the world to see electric cars seized a majority of last year’s annual car sales, with consumers using battery-powered Audi e-tron SUVs, Tesla Model 3 sedans and Nissan Leaf hatchbacks. December was a record month for the market share of electric vehicles with 67%. The country wants all cars sold there to be emission-free by 2025.
GMs In the first videos, Ferrell hated the Nordic nation for no apparent reason. In one, he jokes to order 5 million anchovy pizzas for the whole country. Solberg tweeted thanked her a day later, although she asked the actor to send pineapple pizzas and told him to make 5.4 million of them.
The reason for Ferrell’s animosity was fully revealed A spot of 90 seconds was released on Wednesday. The actor throws an attack on Norway, which sells far more electric cars per capita than the US and tells two other comedians, Kenan Thompson and Awkwafina, to get in. a Hummer and meet him on the other side of the Atlantic. They accidentally end up in Sweden and Finland.
A 60-second version will air during the first quarter of Sunday’s Super Bowl, as GM’s latest effort to raise awareness of its EV efforts. The Detroit-based carmaker has budgeted $ 27 billion in battery electric and self-driving vehicles last month changed the company logo for the first time in nearly six decades to better emphasize the focus on electrification. LeBron James and the Electric Hummer starred in the company’s Super Bowl ad last year.
A fan of Ferrell and the roles he’s played over the years, including Ron Burgundy, Rotevatn got a kick out of the GM commercial. Media, politicians and delegations from other countries have expressed interest in how Norway has convinced car buyers to go electric. He believes that electric vehicles should be given a competitive advantage in the form of favorable tax treatment.
“If we – a pretty rocky, pretty cold, and pretty scattered country, manage to succeed with the electric car policy, then it’s clear that it is providing significant ammunition to those in other countries asking their authorities, why can’t we do this? ? Rotevatn said.
While there is a political debate in Norway about how long the benefits of electric cars should last, there is consensus on at least one issue.
“Like the Prime Minister,” said Rotevatn, “I prefer pineapple.”