- 60-second commercial stars all-new 2017 Honda CR-V and some of today’s biggest celebrities: Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Viola Davis, Missy Elliott, Tina Fey, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Jimmy Kimmel, Stan Lee and Robert Redford
- America’s best-selling SUV turns 20; Super Bowl kicks off 2017 CR-V marketing
- Extensive social media campaign to accompany launch of new TV spot
TORRANCE, Calif. – Honda is debuting the brand’s Super Bowl LI commercial, with the all-new 2017 Honda CR-V taking a star turn alongside a collection of some of the world’s biggest stars from film, television, music, sports and even comic books. Scheduled to run in the first break during the second quarter of the big game on Sunday, Feb. 5, the automaker’s new :60 spot “Yearbooks,” takes viewers back in time through a look at the high-school dreams of famous celebrities before they were household names, and the spirit that drove them to chase those dreams.
As the CR-V turns 20, Honda wants to remind viewers of “The Power of Dreams,” and how it has inspired the vehicle’s evolution into the best-selling SUV in America. “Yearbooks” is now available to watch in its entirety on Honda’s YouTube channel: www.honda.us/BigGameAd. “The Power of Dreams” is a belief that drives everything Honda creates, which speaks to the imagination of big dreams, along with the determination to make those dreams come true.
Honda has called on celebrities Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Viola Davis, Missy Elliott, Tina Fey, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Jimmy Kimmel, Stan Lee and Robert Redford to introduce the all-new 2017 CR-V, 20 years after the popular SUV was first introduced during Super Bowl XXXI. Each celebrity provides insight into their journeys toward success, reflected through their high-school yearbook photos. Just as the CR-V was once the new kid on the block before becoming America’s best-selling SUV, all of the stars featured in “Yearbooks” began with a dream and the determination to achieve it.
“Since its introduction in 1997, CR-V has set the standard for efficiency, practicality and driving fun, becoming a customer favorite and taking the title as America’s best-selling SUV over the past two decades,” said Susie Rossick, assistant vice president, Honda Auto Marketing. “To celebrate the all-new, fifth-generation CR-V, we wanted to share inspiring stories that bring to life what we mean when we talk about The Power of Dreams.”
Bringing “Yearbooks” to Life
Created and produced by RPA, agency of record for Honda, the spot was crafted using cutting-edge technology to bring the high-school yearbook images to life. Layering together the vintage photographs, 3D scans and footage from visual-effects enables each celebrity photo in “Yearbooks” to tell a story in a unique and mesmerizing way.
Honda in the Big Game
The new spot signals Honda’s return to the big game following last year’s highly successful “A New Truck to Love” ad that introduced the new Ridgeline pickup through Queen’s iconic “Somebody to Love,” generating more than 100,000 handraisers for Honda’s innovative new truck.
2017 marks the third appearance for CR-V during a Super Bowl. The first-generation CR-V appeared in Super Bowl XXXI in 1997, with the previous generation CR-V showcased in a 2012 commercial paying homage to a well-known coming-of-age characterin “Matthew’s Day Off.” The spot was a big hit four years ago and became one of the most talked-about Super Bowl ads even before it aired during the game.
CR-V Gets Social
Leading up to the debut of “Yearbooks,” Honda released a short teaser spot starring Steve Carell (https://twitter.com/Honda/status/826429866127921156) on Facebook and Twitter. As part of the #PowerOfDreams social-media campaign, the stars of “Yearbooks” and social influencers will inspire others to follow their dreams, leading up to and throughout the big game.
On #TBT (Throwback Thursday), Thurs., Feb. 2, celebrities from the spot as well as ten other influencers—from professional athletes and musicians to food tastemakers and comedians—will share their younger selves and tell their stories of overcoming obstacles, taking risks and persevering to pursue their dreams, as well as encourage others to share their own stories on social media. On Twitter, between Thursday and Super Bowl Sunday, celebrities from the “Yearbooks” spot and influencers will “dream it forward” and personally reach out with advice to people who have hit bumps in the road on the way to achieving their dreams.
2017 CR-V Campaign
Following the big game, an integrated campaign continues the theme of achieving dreams through TV, digital banners, out of home, radio, print advertising and social campaigns. The big game campaign will also include homepage takeovers on ESPN, Amazon and Yahoo!.
About the 2017 Honda CR-V
The 2017 CR-V went on sale on Dec. 21 and boasts bold new styling, a more premium interior, an turbocharged engine (the model’s first) and a host of new features and technologies aimed at maintaining CR-V’s status as the outright benchmark in the highly popular compact SUV segment. The 2017 CR-V also expands the application of the Honda SensingTM suite of advanced safety and driver-assistive technologies, now offered as standard equipment on EX and higher models.
The all-new 2017 CR-V is the fifth-generation model of the best-selling SUV of the past 20 years1, with nearly 4 million CR-Vs purchased since the debut of the first-generation CR-V in 1997. CR-V had its best sales year of all-time in 2016, marking seven straight years of U.S. sales growth for CR-V and the model’s fifth year in a row of being the outright best-selling SUV in America1.
About Honda
Honda offers a full line of reliable, fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive vehicles with advanced safety technologies sold through over 1,000 independent U.S. Honda dealers. The Honda lineup includes the Fit, Civic , Accord and Clarity Fuel Cell passenger cars, along with the HR-V, CR-V and Pilot sport/utility vehicles, the Ridgeline pickup and the Odyssey minivan.
Honda has been producing automobiles in America for 34 years and currently operates 19 major manufacturing facilities in North America. In 2016, more than 96 percent of all Honda vehicles sold in the U.S. were made in North America, using domestic and globally sourced parts.
For More Information
Consumer information is available at automobiles.honda.com/cr-v. To join the CR-V community on Facebook, visit facebook.com/hondacrv. Additional media information including detailed pricing features and high-resolution photography of the 2016 Honda CR-V is available at hondanews.com/channels/cr-v.
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- Based on PAI/Autodata cumulative sales data for all SUV and CUV models in the industry from 1997 through 2016 CYTD November.