Honda teased us yesterday with a 15-second sneak peek of its Super Bowl commercial and it didn’t take the Japanese automaker long to pull the covers off of the actual 60-second commercial that will air this coming Sunday. The full ad, titled “Yearbooks,” has a pretty straight-forward message that ties into the brand’s long-standing “Power of Dreams” motto.
The ad lacks in any sort of meaningful comedy, but it more than makes up for it by dropping a staggering number of Hollywood A-listers who not only provided their old yearbook photos, but also did voice-over work to promote Honda’s message. We all know that Steve Carrell would be there, but he was also joined by the likes of Tina Fey, Robert Redford, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Stan Lee, Jimmy Kimmel, Amy Adams, and Missy Elliott.
One by one, the celebrities shared inspirational messages that revolved around the theme of not giving up and pursuing your dreams to the best of your abilities, or as Stan Lee so eloquently said: “if you want to make a universe, make a universe.” All of the messages of the celebrities eventually leads to the CR-V, a product that Honda says was created by chasing its own dreams.
Somewhat refreshingly, there is very little underlying tone in this commercial. There may have been an excessive number of celebrities – wonder how much that cost Honda – in the 60-second advertisement, but the whole point of the commercial is as direct and as straightforward as the sound bites we got from these A-listers.
So go chase those dreams, but if you are going to go hunting for them, do so while also living your life to the best of your abilities.
Continue after the jump to read the full story.
Commercial’s message is sent loud and clear
Honda’s approach when it comes to its Super Bowl commercial for the all-new 2017 CR-V is a good one. It’s a little different from what we’re used to seeing, but it does succeed in creating a message for the viewers. And sure enough, the message itself is important to those who will end up watching it.
The whole concept of following your dreams may be overused in some sense, but it’s still an important motto for Honda. The automaker even tapped into the influence of all the Hollywood celebrities to share inspiring stories of their own, built around the same drive and focus to be the best you can be. And here I thought that this was a commercial that relied strictly on Steve Carrell’s comedic chops.
I’ve watched the commercial a handful of times already and for what it’s worth, it’s the kind of ad that gets better the more you watch it. Catching it for the first and only time misses the point of what this ad is trying to say. You might not even make out who all the celebrities are considering that Honda used their yearbook photos from years gone by. But if you watch it over and over again, the whole thing comes together and the message it’s trying to impart becomes a lot clearer.
If anything, the success of the Honda CR-V, a model that’s been around since 1997 and has turned into one of the best-selling SUVs in the world today, is largely owed to the pursuit of the same “Power of Dreams” motto that Honda has lived by all these years.
Gallery Honda CR-V
Read our full review on the Honda CR-V here.