Polestar Buries Combustion Engine in Latest Ad

Jan. 27, 2020

Polestar is the new electric performance car brand owned by Volvo Cars and Geely, determined to accelerate the change to electric mobility. In the spring of 2020, Polestar will launch its latest car: Polestar 2.

As part of the international launch campaign “Goodbye Normal”, Polestar and international creative agency ACNE created the print “Goodbye Combustion Engine”. The long copy ad reads like an obituary for the internal combustion engine as if it were a person. The ad is a friendly dig towards the combustion engine that has been affecting the environment and polluting the air for over 160 years.

With the campaign, Acne and Polestar wanted to move away from stereotypical car advertising. Instead, they’re doing away with conventions they see as harmful and outdated to help create a better industry, one free from stereotypes, combustion engines, regular car keys (Polestar 2 doesn’t have one), and so on.

The ad was launched in Sweden’s biggest magazines and will end up buried as outdoor units in the Stockholm subway. Later in 2020, the ad will run in several key markets around the world.