This year’s Super Bowl commercials are mostly humorous, with sponsors speculating that America would benefit from a little distraction.
On Sunday, a barrage of ridiculous advertisements will be broadcast on television as Philadelphia and Kansas City take on each other in New Orleans. While several businesses posted their advertisements online before the game, some waited to keep things unexpected.
So far, the advertisements have been dominated by humor. Eugene Levy’s eyebrows fly off and buzz around as he eats some Little Caesars, while four elderly women enjoy a fun ride with WeatherTech. Sloths in a Coors Light commercial have a case of the Mondays. A man’s tongue begins to move in celebration of Nestl Coffee Mate’s chilly foam. The British singer Seal turns into a real Seal, regretting that his flippers are unable to hold Mountain Dew.
While comedian Nate Bargatze clones himself and hires an opera singer because he saved so much money using DoorDash, actor Glenn Powell plays Goldilocks in the movie Ram Trucks. While the Fast and Furious franchise stars take a leisurely drive in a convertible to indulge in Hägen-Dazs ice cream bars, Shaboozey takes nerds on a fun walk around New Orleans.
According to Tim Calkins, a marketing expert at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, advertisers faced a challenging Super Bowl.
Avoiding controversy was even more important than normal because the majority of the advertisements were being developed during the U.S. presidential election contest last fall, according to Calkins. According to him, there are few creative risks and a lot of basic humor in the final crop of commercials. However, even that strategy may backfire.
This year, it is the difficulty. According to Calkins, everyone wants to be secure, but you also want to be unique. The advertising you see or recall is not safe advertising.
Furthermore, advertising cannot afford to go unnoticed. This year, some of the approximately 80 Super Bowl commercial commercials cost a record $8 million for 30 seconds.
Themes from this year’s Super Bowl advertisements include the following:
Heartwarming nostalgia
For its Super Bowl commercial, Budweiser brings back its Clydesdales, along with a foal that wants to work as a delivery man. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan perform out their well-known scene from When Harry Met Sally in 1989, except this time, Sally is gushing about Hellmann’s mayonnaise.
While an Instagram parade showcases well-known mascots like Mr. Clean, the Jolly Green Giant, and the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Muppets use Booking.com to look for lodging.Disney examines what the world would be like without its famous characters, such as Bart Simpson, the Marvel superheroes, and Elsa from Frozen.
Kimberly Whitler, a marketing professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, claims that Super Bowl advertisements are now more heavily relying on nostalgia than in the past. According to her, making references to the past can increase an advertisement’s appeal to a wider range of consumers and link goods to positive cultural occasions.
Celebrity mash-ups
A commercial’s appeal can also be increased by combining superstars in novel ways. Pickleball champions Catherine O. Hara and Willem Dafoe appear in their Michel Ultra Super Bowl commercial. Actor Matt Damon and soccer player David Beckham are long-lost twins who become close because of Stella Artois. Post Malone, Shane Gillis, and Peyton Manning throw a block party for Bud Light, while comedian Pete Davidson and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay collaborate on a HexClad campaign. An advertisement for Uber Eats features a number of celebrities, such as Charlie XCX, Martha Stewart, Greta Gerwig, and Matthew McConaughey.
According to Linli Xu, an associate professor of marketing at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, celebrity endorsements have the power to spark conversation. However, there is a chance of diminishing benefits because so many brands use them.
According to Xu, celebrities might receive so much attention that people forget the company they are promoting.
According to her, there is a delicate balance when it comes to using celebrities in the advertisements.
Serious moments
This year’s Super Bowl isn’t all fun and games. Novarti, a pharmaceutical business, encourages women to get breast cancer early.According to Dove, 50% of females who stop playing sports have experienced body type criticism.A telehealth startup called Hims & Hers discusses the obesity crisis in America. Additionally, the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, which was established by Robert Kraft, the chairman and CEO of the New England Patriots, has a striking advertisement in which Tom Brady and Snoop Dogg express their hatred for one another.
Xu stated that she anticipated more advertisements that promoted that same theme. However, she noted that advertisements tended to use humor.
“There is a lot of talk about divisiveness because we just had an election year,” she remarked. It’s possible that people want to see some togetherness and the nation coming together.
Artificial intelligence arrives
AI is promoted as a helpmate in a number of Super Bowl advertisements. Kris Jenner, Chris Pratt, and Chris Hemsworth collaborate on an advertisement for Metas smart glasses, which employ artificial intelligence to respond to queries regarding the wearers’ visual perceptions. Using AI to assist with creating websites and social media content, GoDaddyAiro is marketed by actor Walton Goggins. Additionally, viewers will see a small business in their state that uses Google’s Gemini AI assistant as part of Google’s 50 States, 50 Stories campaign. The water bottle company ButCirkul makes fun of artificial intelligence by showcasing comedian Adam Devine ordering 100,000 bottles by mistake using his phone’s AI assistant.
— Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Mae Anderson, and Dee-Ann Durbin, The Associated President