I love these Dragon Ball Z Ford ads not because they are clearly pandering to one of my interests and also not because I appreciate the subtext of using a well known Japanese anime to sell American cars. I love these ads because they bring some much needed levity to car advertising as a whole.

As someone who watches a good amount of American football, I have seen my share of car ads. When they aren’t hawking the latest deal, most are busy inflating the importance of the product. But trying to elevate what most people know they need and that many already find appealing is a bit tricky. Remember those Star Wars¹ special editions Lucas put out in the 90s? With not a whole lot to improve upon, the result was something less than the original.

Artificially injecting gravitas can make a seemingly nice luxury sedan look just as ridiculous as that added scene between Han and Jabba the Hut. These Dragon Ball Z ads are the opposite. The ads are ridiculous while the car they’re selling just gets to exist.