Dawn Project Super Bowl commercial slams Tesla’s full self-driving capabilities

Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian joins the Live show to discuss the biggest auto and EV Super Bowl commercials from brands such as Jeep and GM, plus the Dawn Project’s ad, which slammed Tesla’s full self-driving capabilities.

Video Transcript

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- All right. Meanwhile, electric vehicle makers gave it their all as well, pumping out EV ads for Sunday's big game. Stellantis, General Motors, and Kia all got some EV exposure. Yahoo Finance's senior auto correspondent Pras Subramanian has all the details. Pras what ad blew you away?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: You know, we're going to drill down on a couple of those big ones like the RAM EV ad, and also some stuff with Tesla. But overall, yet again, we saw these autos and EV brands sort of littering the Super Bowl with more ads. Automakers love spending their ad budgets on these the big game and what could be the most watched game of the year. You know, Edmunds reported that some of these brands are seeing a 90% lift on their website, like GM, with the funny, why not an EV-- Will Ferrell ad with Netflix.

I don't really understand that ad, to be honest with you. But we saw some upcoming GM products there. Also, Jeep's Electric Boogie ad with animals dancing and celebrating the 4xe hybrids. No EVs in that ad, but these cars are things like the most green anyway. And my favorite ad, I think, was the trailer for "Fast 10." I'm a big fan of that series. And you know, no more Rock in it, but Jason Momoa is in it, though.

- I mean, there are just so many.

- Vin Diesel, he's got to hit the gym. What's with this guy? He's a main character. I just want more muscle tone from him there, Pras. I had to say it.

- Wow.

- I had to say it. I had to say it. I'm sorry, Vin Diesel. Get on me on Twitter.

- The Vin Diesel shade. I just wonder are these guys going to be 80 and still driving?

- Of course he is. Look at this guy. Well, he's not going to be doing this, if he does hit the gym, Pras.

- Whoa, OK.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I'm going tonight. I'm going tonight, to the gym, for sure.

- Let's switch gears for a moment because there was an ad buy in some markets that had to do with Tesla. It wasn't by Tesla, it was actually an anti-Tesla group that showed a Model 3 swerve into traffic and cruise through a do-not-enter sign-- so basically trying to spotlight some of these self-driving safety concerns about the brand.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, more serious than any other Dawn Project, which is backed by billionaire Dan O'Dowd, who's a Tesla critic-- they ran this ad in select markets, like Washington DC and a couple of other state capitals, with the Tesla Model 3, supposedly in full self-driving mode, running over child mannequins, hitting strollers, ignoring do-not-enter signs, and even driving past school buses.

So some Tesla fans are alleging fraud. We'll see, but it's getting people talking for sure. And you know, Tesla is in the midst of a big FSD investigation with NHTSA and the DOJ. And so it's not really a good look right now for them, and on such a high-profile stage.

- Yeah, those ads are jarring, Pras. I know you're also talking and watching Ram.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, you know, I think Ram had one of the funnier ads of the night-- the premature electrification ad. Good writing here, you know. Are you, as an American, suffering from premature electrification-- meaning are you kind of concerned about EV range, and anxiety, things like that. Jason Jones, our comedian, doing a good job there. Of note, we actually did see the production-- or close to production-- version of the Ram Rev EV pickup.

So we saw that they're very different looking than the actual concept that they showed earlier last year. And finally, they're talking about stuff like range extender capabilities, which I don't think most Americans understand. But I think the big issue is that the truck won't arrive till 2024. That's a long ways away, when you consider the fact that, possibly, the cybertruck will be here by then.

- Yeah. Well, I'll believe that when I see it, Pras. Come on. All right. Thanks a lot. Appreciate it.