What Car Is The Weeknd Driving in the Pepsi Super Bowl Commercial?
Updated Feb. 17 2021, 10:45 a.m. ET
It might look a little different this year, but the Super Bowl will grace our TV screen on the first Sunday of February, the 7th at 6:30 p.m. EST.
The Weeknd will be headlining the halftime show, but Pepsi has already released its ad with the "Blinding Lights" singer. The ad features a number of people singing along to his song, and he only makes an appearance toward the end driving past a security gate in a really sleek convertible.
What car The Weekend is driving isn't directly shown in the ad itself, but there are some ideas as to what it could be. So, what car is the Weeknd driving in that Super Bowl commercial?
The Weeknd might be driving a Mercedes.
Even though the car doesn't have any obvious identifiers in the commercial, some car enthusiasts on the internet have narrowed down some of the options. Thanks to Reddit, we know the car could be a Mercedes. One user says the car is a Mercedes 190 SL (W121) while another says it could be a Mercedes 300SL from 1954-63.
According to the Mercedes website, the 190 SL is from the 1950s and '60s, and the 300 SL is its "elder brother." The 190 is less powerful than the 300, but it did open up the SL or (Super Light) class of cars to a wider audience.
Pepsi won't be airing ads during the Super Bowl.
Even though Pepsi has already debuted its Super Bowl commercial, it won't air during the actual game. VP of Marketing for Pepsi, Todd Kaplan, released a statement saying that the brand will focus on its halftime show with The Weeknd.
Other brands like Coca-Cola and Budweiser have also pulled their ads saying they will instead allocate efforts toward COVID-19 awareness.
"Over the past decade, the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show has become one of the most anticipated, viewed, and talked about moments in music and entertainment. So, this year, instead of buying a traditional 30-second in-game Super Bowl ad, we decided to double down on the 12 minutes Pepsi already has in the middle of the game — the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show," Kaplan said.
"Coming off of a year that was mostly void of live music, we are reimagining the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show to ensure fans can experience The Weeknd's performance in new ways that have never been done before, with tons of exclusive access and content leading up to the show."
Pepsi will have other kinds of ads during the Super Bowl.
Instead of playing its ad with The Weeknd during the Super Bowl, Pepsi has other ads planned. According to CNBC, the company will have special packaging for 500 million bottles and cans with a QR code. That code will take fans to a website with what's being called "branded content and augmented reality experiences." The website isn't currently available.
There will also be Pepsi Super Bowl ads in stores like Kroger, Target, 7-Eleven, and Dollar General.
