- CarGurus launched “A Drive in the Life,” a documentary-style campaign starring NFL quarterback Drake Maye and his wife, lifestyle content creator Ann Michael Maye.
- Produced with creative agency Vagrants, the unscripted film was shot in Charlotte, North Carolina, and highlights personal vehicle memories alongside CarGurus' shopping tools.
- The campaign runs through the end of 2026 across digital video, social media platforms, and owned channels.
Automotive marketplace CarGurus has officially launched a new documentary-style campaign titled “A Drive in the Life,” starring New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye and lifestyle creator Ann Michael Maye.
Created in partnership with creative agency Vagrants, the five-minute hero video takes place in the couple’s hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Rather than using standard commercial scripts, the campaign captures authentic conversations about their relationship milestones on the road, from early high school dates to postgame rides home.
The film also shows the couple evaluating their next vehicle using CarGurus features like the Guru AI search assistant, deal ratings, and price transparency tools.
This project represents Drake Maye’s first official partnership with CarGurus. Maye, selected third overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, enters the 2026 NFL season firmly established as New England’s franchise quarterback.
Drake Maye continues to build a strong off-field endorsement roster; he recently teamed up with Justin Jefferson and Jaxson Dart to front an Abercrombie & Fitch and Fanatics NFL campaign. He also maintains active endorsement deals with major brands such as Gillette and Betterment.
For CarGurus, “A Drive in the Life” expands its “Big Deal” marketing platform by blending product utility with intimate athlete storytelling.
Auto platforms frequently leverage familiar personalities to build trust, much like when Nick Knowles partnered with Mis-Sold Expert for a car finance campaign or when Blake Shelton starred in CarShield’s Out of Warrantyville commercial campaign.
The campaign will run through the end of 2026 across digital video, social media, and CarGurus’ owned channels.
Takeaways
Car buying is an infrequent, high-stress transaction, making brand loyalty notoriously hard for digital auto marketplaces to win. By ditching sterile price graphs for unscripted road-trip nostalgia in Charlotte, CarGurus turns cold shopping utility into an emotional milestone.
Pairing an emerging NFL franchise quarterback with a lifestyle creator bridges the sports and lifestyle demographics instantly. More importantly, embedding tools like the Guru AI search assistant into casual couple banter normalizes new tech without making the video feel like a rigid corporate sales pitch.
Does weaving AI search tools into unscripted couple banter drive faster adoption than traditional product demos? Will more auto marketplaces shift toward athlete-and-spouse duos to capture both sports fans and lifestyle shoppers?
