1955 Jaguar Xk on 2040-cars

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The best Super Bowl car commercials from the last 5 years

If you've been dipping into the Autoblog feed over the past days and weeks, you wouldn't even have to be a sports fan to know the Super Bowl is coming up. Automakers have been teasing their spots for the big game, dropping them days early, fully-formed onto the Internet and otherwise trying to amp up the multi-million-dollar outlays that they've made for air time on the biggest advertising day of the year. And, we're into it. The lead up to the Super Bowl is almost akin to a mini auto show around these parts; with automakers being amongst the most prolific advertisers on these special Sundays. The crop of ads from 2015 looks as strong as ever, but we thought we'd take a quick look back at some of our favorite spots from the last five years. Take a look at our picks – created from a very informal polling of Autoblog editors and presented in no particular order – and then tell us about your recent faves, in Comments. Chrysler, Imported From Detroit Chrysler, Eminem and a lingering pan shot of "The Fist" – it doesn't get much more Motown than 2011's Imported From Detroit. With the weight of our staffers hailing from in and around The D, it's no wonder that our memories still favor this epic Super Bowl commercial (even though the car it was shilling was crap). Imported really set the tone for later Chrysler ads, too, repeated the formula: celebrity endorsement + dramatic copy + dash of jingoism = pulled car-guy heartstrings. Mercedes-Benz, Soul teaser with Kate Upton One of our favorite Super Bowl commercials (and yours, based on the insane number of views you logged) didn't even technically air during the game. Mercedes-Benz teased its eventual spot Soul with 90-seconds worth of Kate Upton threatening to do her best Joy Harmon impression. (Teaser indeed.) It doesn't win points for cleverness, use of music, acting, or any compelling carness, but it proved that Mercedes' advertisers knew how to make a splash in the Internet Age. And, hey, it's still classier than every GoDaddy commercial. Kia, A Dream Car. For Real Life Like the Mercedes video above, the initial draw here is a pretty lady; in this case the always stunning Adriana Lima. But this Kia commercial really delivers the extra effort we expect while scarfing crabby snacks and homemades, too. First of all, Motley Crue. Second, a cowboy on a bucking rhino. Enjoy yet again.

Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee season 2 opens with Sarah Silverman and Jag E-Type

Season Two of Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee kicked this week in style. How much more style is there to be had than in a 1969 Jaguar XKE, after all? This time around, Seinfeld and Sarah Silverman spend some time driving around in the "slinky, sexy" Jag, talking comedy and then grabbing breakfast.
In addition to the kickoff of the show's second season, this episode also represents the start of a 24-episode sponsorship with Acura. The original deal promised short ads at the beginning and end of each episode, but this time around, Seinfeld "stumbles upon" a 2014 Acura RLX, which is obviously - and admittedly - the work of product integration. Scroll down to watch Seinfeld and Silverman exchange banter with the Jag's beauty as a happy backdrop.

Geely poaches Jaguar designer Wayne Burgess

The fact is simple: Chinese automaker Geely just poached designer Wayne Burgess from Jaguar. Burgess will oversee a team of 100 designers and staff, in charge of projects encompassing all of Geely's brands, and report to Peter Horbury, Geely's EVP of design. Burgess, who started at Jaguar in 1997, was lately the production studio director for Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations, and the head of Jaguar's production cars. His credits include the F-Type, F-Pace, I-Pace, and current XJ, as well as being an Ian Callum stand-in at events. The implications of this personnel move carry the easy-to-ignore weight of another domino falling in what could be a monumental Chinese long game. Geely owns an eponymous car brand in China, as well the Chinese-Swedish Lynk & Co, Sweden's Volvo, England's Lotus and London Electric Vehicle Company (makers of electric black cabs), Malaysia's Proton, and U.S. flying car startup Terrafugia. Burgess won't need to leave home, because Geely's opening a design center in Coventry, England, to go along with its other centers in Barcelona, Gothenburg, Los Angeles and Shanghai. If you're keeping track, Burgess' flight maintains the quickening pace of talent headed to Chinese automakers that we give scant attention. After Geely bought Volvo in 2010, it moved longtime Volvo designer Peter Horbury, now Burgess' boss, to Shanghai. At the time, the news evoked a chortle. Compare that to last week, when GAC Motor designer David Hilton said, "There are now more auto designers in Shanghai than in any other city in the world, including Detroit and L.A." Hilton, by the way, was Bentley's head of exterior design until September last year. The same month, ex-Rolls Royce pen Giles Taylor, who brought us the Cullinan, jetted to Munich to lead FAW's Hongqi luxury brand. One month before that, ex- Land Rover designer Phil Simmons had taken over at Great Wall brand Haval. One month after that, ex- Mazda and BMW designer Kevin Rice became VP of design at Chery. Ex- Audi man Wolfgang Egger took over at BYD in 2017. Oh yeah, Hilton's comments came in a Wall Street Journal article about this very migration. Mass distribution is nearing the developed world in the Northern Hemisphere, too. Lynk & Co wants to get its papers for Europe this year. Zotye just named its first batch of U.S. dealers in advance of a planned launch here in 2020. Guangzhou Auto was at the same U.S. dealer meetings at Zotye, aiming for a U.S. rollout in early 2020.