In General Motors’ Super Bowl ad, Will Ferrell is seen punching a globe while he gets angry that Norway far outranks the U.S. in EV sales. The country is used as a foil in the ad from McCann Worldgroup, which goes on to push GM’s message that its proprietary Ultium battery technology will help pave the way for broader EV adoption in the U.S.
But now Audi’s Norway division is punching back at GM and Ferrell, with help from Norwegian actor and “Game of Thrones” star Kristoffer Hivju. In a new video he is seen picking up a globe like the one Ferrell punched, saying, “You want to punch us in the face?” and ends with the message, “Don’t hate. Imitate.”
Audi is among the brands that get a high percentage of its sales in Norway from EVs. According to the brand, “the number one model in the market was the fully electric Audi e-tron.”
“Norway is a peace-loving nation, but we strongly felt that the GM hate campaign deserved a swift response, of course with a touch of humor,” Audi Norway states.
The response, which comes from Oslo based creative agency POL, includes two other videos that serve as a retort to teaser videos starring Ferrell that GM put out in advance of the Super Bowl spot. In one, Hivju takes issue with Ferrell’s reference of the nation’s first “mackerel slap fight” while reading from a fake “History of Norway book.” In the video, Hivju suggests that salmon is actually Norway’s species of preference for fish fights.
The other video acts as a response to another Ferrell teaser video in which he is portrayed as pranking Norway by ordering 5 million pizzas with anchovies for the entire country.
GM, in a statement released Sunday, said: “The goal of our ‘Everybody In’ campaign is to create interest in and spark a movement toward EVs. It’s been incredible to see the high-profile retweets of and creative responses to our Super Bowl ad and Audi Norge’s video series is a favorite of many of us at GM. Everybody In!”
Ford’s Norway unit has also gotten in on the fun.