“John, why did you bring me here?” sighs Chrissy Teigen at the start of the Super Bowl LIV commercial for Hyundai’s luxury line, Genesis. In the brand’s debut SB spot, Chrissy seems bored to be rubbing elbows with a type of obnoxiously-rich people – “woman who claims she hasn’t had any plastic surgery” “the guy who thinks his loud suit is a personality” “lady who goes to Asia once and suddenly thinks she’s spiritual – but her hubby has an idea. “I think it’s time to throw ‘old luxury’ a going-away party,” John Legend says. It doesn’t go as planned, but it turns out that Chrissy and John’s special phrase is “Sexiest Man Alive,” so there’s at least that.
Genesis is the youngest luxury automaker, said the brand’s North America CEO Mark Del Rosso in a statement, per AdWeek. “Why not act our age and have a little fun?” Enter the duo, which “best represents the kind of pure honesty and approachability that old luxury never had,” said Bob Rayburn, executive creative director of Genesis. “Most luxury advertising acts like, once your income reaches a certain level, your sense of humor gets surgically removed.”
Fans got a preview of the sass they could expect in the commercial when Genesis released a pair of teasers. In the first one, both John and Chrissy are attending a party when the “Freedom” singer spots an Oyster Bar. It was more like an Oyster Mountain, a teetering tower of scrumptious seafood. Chrissy, unfortunately, pulls the wrong oyster, sending the whole massive setup crashing to the floor. “That was not me, that was John Legend, the singer, not me, some random girl, that was John Legend,” Chris said to the group of stuffy, old posh rich (mostly) white folk.
In the second teaser, one of the hosts approaches the couple. “We had this ice brought in from the arctic,” he tells Chrissy and John, gating at a sculpture of Cupid (or your random cherub). Chrissy, munching on something, is not impressed. “Well, I brought these crackers in from my purse. So whoop-de-doo.”
The inclusion of Chrissy is no mistake. Her blunt honesty has endeared her to millions, and AdWeek named her 2019’s Brand Visionary for how she wove her personality through her work in TV, books, products, and endorsement deals. As for John, this isn’t his first Super Bowl Commercial. In 2019, he was joined by Adam Levine and a chorus of other dads for a Pampers commercial. It also featured an appearance by Chrissy, who displayed that biting wit that made the Genesis commercial a hit.