How Kristen Bell Landed Her Gig As The Carvana Commercial Star
Long-time fans of Kristen Bell know that the TV star has quite a notable list of acting credits, ranging from the titular character in the now-canceled "Veronica Mars" to the iconic narrator in the "Gossip Girl" series. However, Bell doesn't limit her television appearances to series, as the Michigan native has also appeared in quite a few commercials. This includes a series of Carvana ads that launched in 2023, with the actor starring alongside her husband Dax Shepard in the car-centered commercials.
The first advert shows Bell using Carvana's Value Tracker feature to measure the value of the duo's car, which prompts Shepard to ask if they should sell the vehicle. Bell dramatically replies that they "hold," a comment that she comedically echoes throughout different domestic activities. According to Carvana co-founder and chief brand officer Ryan Keeton, casting the Hollywood couple in the ad campaign was the perfect way to introduce the company's new feature.
"Kristen and Dax both capture the spirit of Carvana with their authentic personalities and sense of fun," he said. "We want to showcase how we've improved the car buying and selling experience by making it fair and easy, and now, how simple it is to track your vehicle's value over time" (per Little Black Book Online).
Carvana wanted to invoke a family-oriented vibe
Kristen Bell brought her typical charisma and humor to her line of Carvana ads, but her dynamic with her husband Dax Shepard also brought a family feel to the campaign. "Our approach focused on intimate, relatable, and clever humour," said director Jonathan Klein. "But it was really about family. Family is who we buy and sell our cars for and who we spend most of our time in cars with."
The famous couple have been married since 2013, with Bell opening up about her secret to a successful marriage with Shepard. Together, the duo has two daughters, Lincoln and Delta, whose lives they keep as private as possible – Bell even received backlash for featuring another child in her Hello Bello baby line commercial back in 2019, with audiences accusing the actor of having a double standard.
Bell and Shepard's Carvana commercials don't feature their own children, but the series of at-home activities shown in the ad, which range from backyard barbecuing to laundry washing, invokes a very family-oriented vibe. Bell might have some controversial parenting tactics, with the couple sharing the funny way they know it's time to bathe their kids, but Carvana's family-friendly feel fits in with her devotion to her family. "Motherhood right-sized everything for me," she told Good Housekeeping. "I'm happier, and I was pretty happy before."
What the internet has to say about the Carvana ads
While Carvana staff members have spoken positively about Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard's line of commercials, the internet doesn't completely share the sentiment. One commercial was shared on Reddit to r/CommercialsIHate, with the poster expressing their annoyance with the clip. "This is such a stupid commercial," they wrote. "All it does is make me want to avoid Dax and Kristen."
Several other Redditors expressed similar frustrations in the comment, but social media users also took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to voice their annoyance with the Carvana adverts. "My least favorite commercial right now is the Dax/bell carvana one," one user wrote. "Because it is annoying [in] the regular way AND I'm really supposed to believe Dax Shepard and Kristen bell are sweating over a $500 difference on a 2017 Pacifica?"
However, not everyone talking about Bell's ad was hating on it, with one X user complimenting the commercial. "The Carvana commercial with Kristen Bell is the cutest of the year," they wrote. "Hold!!"