Polestar says no to everything in its first Super Bowl ad

A brand introduced by what it is not

On 13 February 2022, during the first quarter of Super Bowl LVI, Polestar airs its first Super Bowl commercial.^1,2 The 30-second spot, titled "No Compromises", presents the all-electric Polestar 2 fastback in a minimal, graphic style: white words on a black background, in line with the brand's own design language.^1,3 A 15-second teaser runs before the game.¹

The film consists almost entirely of refusals. Among the lines on screen are "No dieselgate", "No dirty secrets", "No conquering Mars", "No greenwashing", "No blah, blah, blah", "No committees" and, at the end, "No compromises".⁴ CNBC also records "No epic voiceovers".² The spot closes on "No. 2" and the name of the car.²

Two targets, named without naming them

Two of the lines point at competitors without mentioning them. "No conquering Mars" refers to the space ambitions of Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla; "No dieselgate" recalls the emissions scandal of Volkswagen from 2015.^5,2 The agency's case study explains the reasoning behind the first. Polestar enters a US market dominated by Tesla as an unknown brand, and research suggests that many Americans are tired of Musk's antics and that his link to Tesla is a weakness for the brand.⁶ The ad therefore introduces Polestar by what it opposes, and positions it as the alternative.⁶

Julia Holtback Yeter, creative at Forsman & Bodenfors, describes the approach in one sentence: "That's why, together, we chose to tell the world who they are by showing what they're not".⁷ The form follows the message. Her summary of the craft is equally short: "No epic voice overs and no punchlines."⁸

Who made it

The spot is created by Forsman & Bodenfors, with iProspect handling media.^6,3 It is directed by Christian Larson for the production company BR•F, with cinematography by Gösta Reiland and music composed by Daniel Fagerström; social versions are cut by the agency's New York studio.³ Tom Suharto, Head of Strategy at Forsman & Bodenfors New York, describes the client: "They obsess over every detail of how their cars are made and care deeply about their global impact."⁸

The appearance comes at a moment of growth. Polestar reports 29,000 cars sold in 2021, an increase of more than 185 per cent on the year before.¹ Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar, calls the game "an iconic event" and says he is "excited to bring Polestar's message to such a wide audience."¹ He sets out the objective in the announcement: "This is the perfect place to further raise awareness of our brand in the US, and beyond."¹ Sarah Beaumier, head of Polestar's marketing in Canada, explains the choice of the event plainly: "When it comes to advertising, there is no bigger stage than the Super Bowl."⁸ She also connects the tone to the brand's origin: "We are a brand based out of a Nordic country, and we are about a way of life that's minimalistic and purposeful."⁹ In a broadcast known for celebrities, animals and spectacle, a black screen with short white sentences is itself the differentiation.

Reach and reaction

By the measure of the search data firm EDO, the ad performs roughly 23 times better than other commercials aired during the game, and Reuters reports it at the top of the list of the most popular commercials of Super Bowl LVI.¹⁰ The agency reports that Polestar ranks as the eighth most searched term during the game on Google Trends, that polestar.com records 193,000 sessions on Super Bowl day, and that daily traffic for the rest of February is 280 per cent higher than four weeks earlier.⁶ Musk answers on Twitter with a laughing emoji.¹⁰

Not every response is applause. Engadget questions the "no compromises" claim, noting that the Polestar 2 is neither the fastest, the longest-range nor the roomiest electric car on the market.⁵ The objection shows the risk of a manifesto made only of negatives: every "no" invites the viewer to test it against the product.

What the refusals buy

For a challenger brand, the format solves a specific problem. Polestar cannot outspend established carmakers on awareness and has little shared memory with American viewers to build on. A list of what the brand rejects borrows the attention already attached to its competitors, while the visual reduction makes the spot recognisably different from everything around it in the break. The minimalism that defines Polestar's design becomes the advertising idea itself.

The appearance remains a single event. Campaign reports in early 2023 that Polestar has no plans to return to the Super Bowl that year.¹¹ The 2022 spot stays the brand's one statement on that stage, made in the voice of a newcomer that defines itself against the industry it is entering.