For this year's Super Bowl campaign Audi’s competitor, General Motors, promoted its electric vehicles with a series of teasers and a lead spot. “Why does Will Ferrell hate Norway?” was GMs big question. The spots featured Hollywood star Ferrell declaring his hate for Norway and waging war on the nation up north. His “hatred” was apparently fueled by the fact that Norway is selling more EVs than any other country in the world. As the best-selling EV-brand in Norway, Audi felt the need to respond swiftly and fight back in true Norwegian, salmon-slapping style with the best Norway have to offer. With just days left to the Super Bowl, we had to act fast to win the EV-battle of The Super Bowl.

“Don’t Hate. Imitate” was the core of our idea and the perfect response to GM’s and Will Ferrell’s “hate” for Norway. Urging them to follow our lead, rather than hate. We recruited Game of Thrones star and proud Norwegian Kristofer Hivju (aka Tormund Giantsbane in GoT) to defend our country and spearhead our clapback against Ferrell and GM.

With just days left to the SuperBowl, we had to respond fast to create our PR-narrative to win the EV-battle. We got together the ingredients of a great PR-campaign. By putting influencer, Game of Thrones star and “archetypical Hollywood-Viking” Kristofer Hivju, up against “American-Hollywood-comedy-icon” Will Ferrell, we had the PR-fuel we needed. Two big stars and two big brands in a public “war”, national pride, SuperBowl and shareable and newsworthy content made people talk and share. And made journalists write and report. We created the PRfect storm. We put Audi at the center of the conversation with our message “Don’t hate. Imitate” and reinforced our position as the leading EV-brand in the leading EV-market.

The PR-story and -videos were distributed through news-, sports- and entertainment media to get a broad reach. And targeted distribution in industry specific automotive- and advertising media. Social media was used to keep the conversation going.

Our comeback videos starred Norwegian Game of Thrones star Kristofer Hivju. We plaid around with key elements and storyline from the GM ads and hit back with a humorous twist. In GMs ad Ferrell, in his determination to hate Norway, punched a hole in a globe where Norway is located. We turned the crushed globe, the symbol of his hate to Norway, into one of the key elements in our response. Ferrell also prank ordered 5 million pizzas to Norway and mocked the history of Norway. All in which we used to create the perfect comeback. Our response videos where spread on facebook, youtube, Instagram and earned media and seen by millions.

Pitched, produced and launched within 48 hours and just in time for Super Bowl. We fought back in true Norwegian style with a tailor-made, video response to Will Ferrell and GM with one simple message: Don’t Hate. Imitate

Our response videos got over 3,4 million views in just 3 days. It generated 1257 news stories, 1,2 billion earned media impressions, giving us media coverage worth 8 million euros. With a fraction of the spend of the GM campaign, we punched way above our weight. We “won” the battle of EVs on the biggest day of TV advertising with a targeted PR response.

And the ultimate mark of success: Our response created so much attention GM had to address it publicly. In the words of our new frenemy, the official GM statement: “It’s been incredible to see the high-profile creative responses to our Super Bowl ad and Audi Norway’s video series is a favorite at GM. The goal is to create a movement toward EVs and it’s natural for us to look to Norway, the leading EV-country.” Sounds to us like they “stopped hating and started imitating.”