Super Bowl commercials: Amy Purdy of ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ ‘Amazing Race’ stars in Toyota ad

Companies always want to go all-out with their Super Bowl commercials. For Toyota, they clearly decided this year that they wanted to feature someone in their ad that is well-known for going all-out with everything that she does: Olympic athlete and former “Dancing with the Stars” / “Amazing Race” contestant Amy Purdy.

This ad is one of many in what is a somewhat-inspirational trend for the big game this year. While there will be many traditional funny spots, we also get the sense that many companies are actually trying more to make you motivated and excited about the future. Let’s take a minute and analyze whether or not this is the right thing for the car company to be doing.

The good – Great use of Purdy as an inspirational figure, and of Muhammad Ali in the background. This feels almost like a “Rocky” training video. Also, we like that it shows multiple sides of what she can do, from modeling to snowboarding to ballroom dancing, all of them inspiring in the own right.

The bad – It feels like this ad could be for almost anything, and the Toyota connection is weak. What are we suppose to take from this, that all inspirational people drive a Toyota? The problem is that we could see people remembering this commercial, but not necessarily the product featured in it.

The verdict – We’re surprised that the reaction on YouTube seems to be split, and we feel like much of that may be Toyota shoehorning itself into an ad that is otherwise pretty outstanding. They created a great spot with a great spokesperson; there’s just a disconnect between what she does, and the product itself. Grade: C+.

If you are interested in taking a look at some further Super Bowl commercials this year, click on the link in the image below or the one here! Also, sign up to get some further TV news sent over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjUfygo5mzw#t=55