Acura is returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2012, and it's bringing Van Halen along for the ride.
The 30-second spot, created by Mullen Lowe L.A., provides a look at the new Acura NSX, which is officially being released on Feb. 25. Leila Cesario, national manager of Acura advertising, said the brand wanted to capture its American roots while also getting car enthusiasts psyched about its new product.
"This vehicle is a simple expression of our brand, and we're really proud of its American roots," Cesario told Adweek. "It made sense to communicate this on the biggest American stage with a huge American rock band."
Van Halen's "Runnin' with the Devil," which is being used in an ad for the first time, captures that sense of excitement perfectly, while red, white and blue lights add to the patriotic mood the brand is aiming for.
The spot, called "What He Said," marks a shift away from Acura's last Super Bowl ad (the brand's first Big Game appearance), which starred Jerry Seinfeld and took a more humorous approach. "What He Said" is a continuation of Acura's newly launched "Precision crafted performance" motto and aims to highlight the attention to detail that went into building the new NSX.
"We wanted the representation of manufacturing the product," Cesario said. "It's a pinnacle expression of precision crafted perfection. And we wanted to build on the excitement that we feel a lot of our consumers feel about the product."
As part of its digital campaign strategy, Acura will be one of the first brands to test Twitter's newly launched ad unit, Twitter Conversational Video, leading up to game day. A 60-second version of the spot will also be released online, giving viewers a more in-depth look at how the car is built and designed.
• For more Super Bowl 50 news, check out Adweek's Super Bowl Ad Tracker, an up-to-date list of the brands running Super Bowl spots and the agencies involved in creating them.