Yes, we better get used to these 15-second teasers of 60-second commercials in the run up leading to Super Bowl LI. As ridiculous as they sound, these teasers have become important aspects of a company’s marketing strategy during the Big Game, especially at a time when a lot of people who watch the Super Bowl actually watch it for the commercials and not the game itself. We already know that Kia has rolled out its own 15-second teaser featuring Melissa McCarthy. Now it’s Honda’s turn and it’s bringing its own Hollywood A-lister into the mix: Steve Carrell.

The hilarious comedian best known for movies like Despicable Me, Date Night, and Evan Almighty gets the yearbook treatment for this ad, right down to the thick mustache. Looking at his 20-year old likeness is funny enough by itself, but Carrell adds on the hilarity of his looks by giving a funny yet uplifting speech about “believing in yourself.”

The 15-second teaser isn’t actually for one of Carrell’s upcoming movies. It’s for the 2017 Honda CR-V, which has actually been on sale in the US since December 2016. Yep, it’s barely a month into its life in the showrooms so it’s fitting that Honda would use a stage as big as the Super Bowl to promote the wheels off of the new CR-V.

Having Carrell in the fold to provide comedy in the 60-second commercial should also go a long way in establishing a lot of interest in the ad. At the very least, Honda also has to account for the success of its Super Bowl commercial last year for the Ridgeline. That one featured a flock of sheep singing Queen’s Somebody to Love and was one of the most well-received commercials during the game.

The pressure’s definitely on for Honda and Steve Carrell to make an impression for the new CR-V. Judging by this teaser, I’d say that they’re well on their way to doing that.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

Honda’s actually from a position of strength here

You might think that a lot of these automakers spend millions of dollars on ad space during the Super Bowl to promote models that they think are going to need the exposure. While that’s true in some sense, there are others - like Honda in this instance - who are actually trying to get more attention for some of its models that aren’t lacking any of it to begin with.

The 2017 CR-V is a good example of this because the model isn’t actually in need of attention -- it’s already selling at a higher rate than Honda expected. Take for example its sales numbers in January 2017, one month after the CR-V officially went on sale. According to Honda, it delivered 29,287 models of the CR-V in that month alone, an increase of 52.5 percent over its sales numbers year-on-year. Now the company wants to showcase the SUV in front of the largest television audience of the year. You can be sure that the objective there is to further increase the CR-V’s sales numbers.

Even better news here is that the 2017 model is actually an all-new CR-V with plenty of new features, including a new styling and a new powertrain that includes a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 190 horsepower and 179 pound-feet torque.

All the pieces are in place for the CR-V to be a popular model for Honda so you can excuse the company for taking advantage of that popularity by spending money on a 60-second commercial starring Steve Carrell. Sometimes, you just have to make the most of what you have and go big on it, right? That’s what Honda’s doing here judging by the teaser, it looks like it has another winning commercial on its hands.

Read our full review on the 2017 Honda CR-V here.