The emerging electric car company Polestar, expected to go public this year, utilized its first advertisement during the Super Bowl to indirectly challenge its competitors Tesla and Volkswagen. The 30-second ad featured an image of the Polestar 2, with phrases all starting with the word "no," directed toward car manufacturers who typically rely on the popular event in the United States to showcase their new ads and vehicles.
The company subtly hinted at the "Dieselgate" scandal, which resulted in Volkswagen paying billions in fines for manipulating carbon emissions data, and included the phrase "no to conquering Mars," referring to Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk, who plans to land humans on Mars by 2026. The ad concluded with the statement that they would not settle for second place, followed by the name of their electric vehicles.
Polestar's CEO Thomas Ingenlath stated, "The Super Bowl is a big event and an exciting opportunity to convey the Polestar message to such a vast audience. We are a young and ambitious brand. We believe in 'no compromises.'"
Polestar is under the control of the Volvo Group and its parent company Geely Holding Group of China. In September, the company announced a deal to go public in the first half of this year through a merger with a US-listed SPAC backed by billionaire Alec Gores and investment bank Guggenheim Partners, with a valuation of $20 billion.
