Mini->ke57 has never been the kind of company that adhered to the norms of the industry. For the longest time, it adopted an image that went against the grain, at least compared to how other automakers conduct themselves. For better or worse, that whole image has stuck with Mini, which is why its ad for the Super Bowl, called “Defy Limits”, is a perfect representation of the company as a whole.

It’s easy to get lost in that whole notion of Mini being the “renegade” of sorts in the industry because in a lot of ways, the company itself has stoked that fire numerous times in the past. It has openly embraced it and ran with it to get to where its at right now, even at the cost of being labeled as a company that never took itself seriously.

The ad, which is a commercial->ke1469 for the Mini Clubman, takes the same approach by enlisting some of the biggest names in the sports and music industries, a lot of whom share the same qualities as Mini, or in this case, the Clubman.->ke2526 Tennis star Serena Williams, recently retired soccer player Abby Wambach, baseball Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, and rapper T-Pain are a few of the prominent names to appear in the ad.

Each of these people have dealt with stereotypes and labels in their careers and more often than not, these labels were created in ways to limit the accomplishments they’ve earned in their careers. Fair or not, that’s the world we live in. The message of the ad is to break through these labels that were designed to cap the kind of success these celebrities have had in their careers. Mini can relate to that because in addition to being labelled as gimmicky in the past, it has also had to deal with its cars being labeled a “chick” car, a “gay” car, “too small”, and “not a performance car”.

But, just because people say it, that doesn’t mean it’s true. It's up to the person to decide if they're going to be defined by these labels or if they're going to defy and shed them so they can be the ones to define themselves.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

Why it matters

I admit to being guilty of putting my own labels on Mini, so I’m actually happy to see the company address its supposed “image problems” with this commercial. It’s a beautiful ad that has my vote as (so far) the best commercial of Super Bowl 50.

If I’m being honest, my reaction upon seeing the ad fed into that whole notion of Mini, as Harvey Keitel put it, not caring what you call it. I was surprised with the approach of the ad because it wasn’t what Mini was so used to doing. I imagined a commercial that feeds into the reputation of Mini as a gimmicky brand. I didn’t expect to see something like this, especially the way the company used all of these famous people to bring home the message of the ad.

That’s the beauty of this ad. On the surface, it wants to promote the Clubman, but it does so in a way that it sends a great message to a lot of people. In Mini’s case, the company is proud of being labeled a gay car or a chick car, but in doing so, it also showed that it’s more than the things people have described it to be. That should resonate to a lot of people, especially those who can understand the feeling of being labeled by those around them.

Well done, Mini. It’s a beautiful commercial.

Mini Clubman

Read our full review on the Mini Clubman here.