Toyota Prius Super Bowl Ad Features 'The Wire' Villains in Hilarious Car Chase

Although The Wire was never as commercially successful as other HBO shows like The Sopranos, or current smash Game of Thrones, the critically acclaimed saga about the Baltimore police is still something of a cult show. Last Sunday, one of the Super Bowl ads featured a reunion from the cop series that everyone but hardcore fans may have missed: the Sobotkas in a hilarious Toyota Prius car chase!

According to The Wrap, the latest Toyota Prius Super Bowl ad was a nod to the show revolving around the Baltimore Police Department and featured three cast members from the show's second season.

The ad, about four bank robbers who escape by using a new Toyota Prius that's surprisingly fast, is a pun on the endless jokes about the car. But the hidden Easter egg is the idea behind the cast: James Ransome, who played Ziggy Sobotka in the second season of The Wire, was the driver during the chase; his TV dad Frank (Chris Bauer) joined him in the passenger seat and Cousin Nick, A.K.A Pablo Shreiber, was in the back.

It's still unclear whether the fourth man was related to the show as well.

While in the HBO series the three men were involved in smuggling in the Baltimore port, in this new ad, the Sobotkas have taken on a new profession as bank robbers, and they turn to a parked Prius in despair after they discover their car is being towed.

During the car chase that follows, everyone completely ignores that the foursome committed a crime and instead are focusing on the speed of their getaway hybrid car; still, The Washington Post reports that not everybody was happy about the ad. With random complaints from the robbers being white to supposed parallels with the O. J. Simpson chase, it seemed many in social media were just looking for something to complain about.

According to Vulture, though, there was one man who laughed at the joke: David Simon, the creator of The Wire, who took to Twitter to congratulate the Sobotkas on escaping the law.

Kudos to the Sobotka clan of South Baltimore. You can't keep good men down:https://t.co/EhP52aDHyM

— David Simon (@AoDespair) February 8, 2016