Will Ferrell Super Bowl Ad Pits Comedy Icon Against Norway

Will Ferrell must have learned to love all things Scandanavia while filming Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga because his new Super Bowl ad finds him heading to another country in Northern Europe. Ferrell found a reason to get mad at Norway in a Super Bowl commercial for GM. He learned that over half of all cars sold in the country are now electric, while just 4% of cars sold in the U.S. are. Ferrell and GM want to change that, so he heads to Norway in the hopes of showing them how great American electric-powered cars can be.

In the 90-second spot, Ferrell hopped into a new Cadillac Lyriq, which is powered by GM's new Ultium battery technology, notes Endgadget. He hoped to make this a road trip with his friends, so he stopped by Kenan Thompson and Awkwafina's houses on the way. Unfortunately, they had to go themselves, so they got into a new Hummer EV. While Ferrell probably could have found an easier way to get to Norway, he drove his Cadillac into a shipping container, which he hoped would take him to the country. Unsurprisingly for Ferrell, things did not turn out as he hoped in the end.

The decision to endorse electric cars in its Super Bowl commercial comes after GM announced in November it was leaving the Trump Administration's lawsuit against California's fuel economy rules, aimed at lowering emissions from cars and trucks linked to climate change, the New York Times reported at the time. It was seen as a sign that GM and other automakers might be more interested in working with President Joe Biden, who has taken steps to reinstate Obama-era climate change mandates that President Donald Trump spent four years taking apart.

"President-elect Biden recently said, 'I believe that we can own the 21st-century car market again by moving to electric vehicles.' We at General Motors couldn't agree more," GM CEO Mary Berra wrote to environmental groups in November. She said the company was immediately withdrawing from the litigation and invited other automakers to join them.

Since becoming president, Biden has already taken action to support fuel-efficient vehicles. Late last month, he said the federal government's entire fleet of cars, trucks, and SUVs would be replaced with electric vehicles made in the U.S., reports TechCrunch. Biden made the commitment when he signed an executive order that he said should increase the purchase of products made in the U.S. by the U.S. government.

As for Ferrell, his Super Bowl commercial comes after the former Saturday Night Live star appeared in Netflix's Eurovision Song Contest, in which he and Rachel McAdams played childhood friends from Iceland who dream of entering the titular song contest. Ferrell also starred in Downhill with Julia Louis-Dreyfus last year. He is also a producer on Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo's Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, which opens on Feb. 12.