Nissan is putting some star power behind the launch campaign for its new compact Micra by partnering with Bell Media for TV and digital spots featuring The Big Bang Theory‘s Jim Parsons.

With media from OMD and creative from TBWA, the exclusively Canadian spots feature Parsons as himself, not as his TV persona and have him highlighting aspects of the car in a humorous tone to add to other more feature-specific ads that were already on TV.

Bruce Baumann, managing director at OMD Canada, tells MiC the partnership with Bell Media and use of Parsons in the spots came from a series of meetings with TV vendors asking for unique executions around the new car launch, which is aimed at a range of consumers from new vehicle owners to people who may have been looking for a used car because of its low price point ($9,998). He adds the big differentiator of this campaign is the star power the car co is putting behind it, which is not typical for exclusively Canadian spots.

The TV spots with Parsons launch tonight during the season finale of The Big Bang Theory on CTV, with extended spots going live online tomorrow on CTV.ca. Baumann calls the mix of TV and digital spots “critical” and especially important to reach a mass audience for the launch of a new vehicle for Nissan Canada. The first TV spot has Parsons showing off the Nissan Micra’s spacious interior, with the second diving deeper into the car’s features.

Following the premiere tonight the TV spots will air across other Bell Media properties for five weeks.