The Super Bowl is synonymous with Super Bowl commercials. But this year? Several companies have opted to skip the big game. For the first time in 37 years, we won’t be seeing a Super Bowl commercial from Budweiser. Coca-Cola has also chosen to skip this year’s game. These aren’t the only companies opting out of this year’s Super Bowl, either. Hyundai has chosen to skip this year’s game too, as has Kia.

Why Hyundai is choosing to opt-out of this year’s Super Bowl

Automotive News reports that Hyundai is “ending its long-running streak of big game ads.” Though the automaker has aired 12 Super Bowl commercials over the past 13 years, it has chosen to sit this year’s game out.

In December, Angela Zepeda, chief marketing officer at Hyundai, told Automotive News that the company was hesitant to make a decision on airing a Super Bowl commercial “due to the fluid nature of the situation.” At the time, she said, “We’ve always been in it and have been firmly in it, but this is a different time in a different year and I am being overly thoughtful.”

But now? It’s official. We won’t be seeing a Super Bowl commercial from Hyundai this year. “This was a decision based on marketing priorities, the timing of upcoming vehicle launches and where we felt it was best to allocate our marketing resources,” explained a spokesperson for Hyundai. But, they added, “we will certainly be back.”   

Kia will break its 11-year streak by sitting out this year’s Super Bowl

Kia has also chosen not to air any commercials during this year’s game. Instead, the automaker has chosen to “expand its charitable initiatives in support of America’s youth.” Kia’s “Accelerate The Good” program launched in 2019. The program includes the automaker’s ‘Great Unknowns Scholarship,’ which helps young people in need “get a foothold in higher education.” 

“After a decade of creative and award-winning Super Bowl campaigns, Kia will not be advertising in Super Bowl LV,” Russell Wager, VP of marketing for Kia Motors North America, said in a statement provided to AdAge. Wagner reiterated that the company would expand its charitable initiatives instead.

Unfortunately, Kia hasn’t said just how much it has contributed this year. Instead, it pointed to two separate $1 million donations. Both donations aimed to support America’s homeless youth and were made at the onset of the pandemic.

Automakers that are airing Super Bowl commercials this year

Now, not everyone is sitting out this year’s game. AdAge reports that GM plans on pushing its electric vehicle ambitions with two Super Bowl commercials. The first ad will highlight GM’s “Everybody In” campaign, which promotes awareness for electric vehicles. The second ad, which GM unveiled this week, features Will Ferrell, Kenan Thompson, and Awkwafina. In the ad, the trio takes on Norway for selling more electric cars per capita than the U.S. 

“The big game is the perfect venue for the incomparable Will Ferrell to encourage us all to reconsider what we know about electric vehicles, and to invite ‘Everybody In,’” Deborah Wahl, GM global chief marketing officer, said in a statement. “We admire his passion for EVs and share Norway’s pursuit of an all-electric future.”

Jeep also plans on running a Super Bowl commercial this year. Unfortunately, AdAge reports that Jeep has yet to reveal the ad’s length, the agency responsible for it, or any creative details about the commercial itself. Fortunately, the Super Bowl is just around the corner, so we won’t have to way too long to find out what Jeep has in store for the big game.