In the General Motors Super Bowl ad, Will Ferrell is seen hitting a globe with a globe while getting angry because Norway far surpasses the US in sales of electric vehicles. The country is being used as a foil in the McCann Worldgroup ad, which continues to advance GM’s message that its own Ultium battery technology will help pave the way for broader EV adoption in the US.
But now Audi’s Norway division is back with GM and Ferrell, with the help of Norwegian actor and ‘Game of Thrones’ star Kristoffer Hivju. In a new video, he is seen picking up a globe like the one that punched Ferrell, saying, “Do you want to hit us in the face?” and ends with the message, “Do not hate. Naboots. ”
Audi is one of the brands that gets a high percentage of its sales in Norway from EVs. According to the brand, “the number one model in the market was the all-electric Audi e-tron.”
“Norway is a peace-loving nation, but we feel strongly that the GM hate campaign is responding quickly, of course with a touch of humor,” says Audi Norway.
The response, which comes from the creative agency POL in Oslo, contains two other videos that serve as a version of teaser videos starring Ferrell that put GM out in front of the Super Bowl spot. In one, Hivju is talking about Ferrell’s reference to the country’s first “mackerel battle” while reading from a fake ‘History of Norway book’. In the video, Hivju suggests that salmon is actually Norway’s preferred species for fish fights.