This year's Super Bowl just got beastlier. General Motors confirmed Thursday it will air a spot at Sunday's game to unveil its brand new Hummer, the tank-like SUV it has reinvented as a zero emissions electric pickup.
The ad will feature basketball star LeBron James, the L.A. Lakers player and close friend of the late Kobe Bryant.
While the truck won't be available until late 2021, GM is clearly eager to tease the launch in the biggest way possible, in front of the largest TV audience of the year. Its brand is also taking over the home page banner on YouTube.
Popular in the early 2000s and known for being one of the worst gas guzzlers on the market, the Hummer has been completely reimagined as a 1,000 horsepower electric truck boasting "zero limits" and "zero emissions."
The Super Bowl spot will make a point of how quiet the vehicle is and focus on its speed and horsepower. The 30-second ad spot will run during the second quarter of the game.
GM discontinued the brand after its bankruptcy in 2010 and has been considering a relaunch for some time. The company announced on Monday it would be investing $2.2 billion to convert an aging Detroit assembly plant into an all-electric plant that would produce the Hummer.
“There is still power in the Hummer brand,” Dean Crutchfield, a branding expert at Crutchfield and Partners, said. “America likes it big. Not everyone wants to be Paris slim, and Hummer is a symbol of American success.”