Before one can take over the world, there must be a world worth taking over. That's the premise for General Motors' 2022 Super Bowl commercial featuring the evil clan from the Austin Powers film franchise, which is now released in all its 90-second glory. And it's fricken funny, Mr. Bigglesworth.
GM has teased its Super Bowl ad all week, giving us snippets of Dr. Evil and his hierarchy while pointing to electric vehicles as the overarching theme. Now that we have a short movie (a mini-movie, perhaps?) of Dr. Evil taking over General Motors, the plan becomes clear. Climate change is the biggest threat to the world, making Dr. Evil the second biggest threat. And we all know how he feels about being number two, which he reveals to Number Two. We see what you did there, GM.
So, to become the number one threat to the world once again, the evil mastermind must eliminate climate change. And now that Dr. Evil is the head of a global automotive organization (an evil organization, perhaps?) the answer is simple – Ultium-powered cars! Of course, the commercial isn't a cut-and-dry progression from beginning to end. We get all the classic banter that Austin Powers fans love, from Number Two's dry observations to Frau screaming, and there are still daddy issues for Scott, who's now a daddy himself. Poor Scott, he's never gonna get it. Yes, we're alluding to a funny bit in the video with that reference.
Is this the only Super Bowl ad GM will have for 2022? It doesn't contain any of the maniacal laughter seen in previous teasers, nor does it include the real people ad-spoof teased yesterday, where Dr. Evil infiltrates a focus group before revealing his secret Detroit lair in GM headquarters. It's likely there will be at least one more commercial in this series. And you know what? We're okay with that.
