super Bowl advertising has always been a high-stakes activity, as brands spend millions in just 30 seconds of airtime to jog their messages in front of more than 100 million viewers. But in 2021, stakes are even higher after a contusion year that included a pandemic, an economic crisis, racial justice demonstrations and an attack on the Capitol building.
Some longtime advertisers are turn off of this year’s Super Bowl LV, including veteran players like Coke and Pepsi. Brand experts point out that advertisers appearing in the game may have to follow a fine line with their messages, with Northwestern University business professor Derek Rucker describing the situation as similar to “icebergs.” to the water”.
“Going to the Super Bowl means you’re talking to an audience of 100 million or more – you have to make sure you don’t convey any unwanted messages, that you don’t hit any icebergs along the way,” he said. “There’s some concern on the part of advertisers: I think they’re right to be cautious.”
A memorable Super Bowl ad can be worth much more than investing in airtime, which this year stands at $ 5.5 million for a 30-second spot. Advertisers with a memorable ad can stand out from the crowd, helping to win customers and build goodwill, such as with Apple’s famous “1984” ad that helped it stand out in the early personal computer wars.
But a poorly executed Super Bowl ad can wreak havoc on a company, as was the case with the 1999 Just for Feet ad which showed white hunters tracking down a barefoot Kenyan runner, drugging him and forcing shoes on his feet.
“What you saw and what the brand intended are two different things,” Rucker said of the failed Super Bowl ads. “As a brand, you have to think about the big picture and how consumers can respond.”
CBS (the parent company of CBS Interactive and CBS MoneyWatch) airs the game on Sunday, Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m. ET. The network, late last month, said it is “virtually exhausted” from ad inventory, as some newcomers buy advertising space as they feel habitual like Coke.
Chipotle, DoorDash
Despite the risks, the championship game remains a good opportunity for companies to capture the attention of viewers, said Deb Gabor, CEO of Sol Marketing, a brand strategy consultancy. He noted Chipotle, who is publishing his first Super Bowl announcement this year.
“They’ve had a positive day,” Gabor noted. “They were moving towards a model towards comfort and they had a Chipotle app long before the pandemic; they were well positioned for the changing world.”
The ad’s message focuses on environmentally friendly agriculture, linking to Chipotle’s marketing efforts on obtaining food responsibly, and Gabor said it’s likely to be an issue that has many consumers, given the growing concerns about climate change and the environment.
Another newcomer to the Super Bowl this year is DoorDash, which also grew its business this year amid the pandemic. With restaurants limiting or sometimes shutting down indoor food and consumers are worried about eating out because of the risk of exposure to the virus, millions more consumers turned to delivery apps like DoorDash to order food.
While DoorDash has not previously posted the Super Bowl announcement, a look is provided through teasers that include Sesame Street characters like Cookie Monster (which swallows cookies that are ordered at DoorDash, of course) and Super Grover. The teasers seem to take a look at the pandemic (such as Super Grover ordering paper towels) and aim to highlight “local heroes,” such as small businesses and delivery workers.
DoorDash said it wanted to build on its growing brand awareness by hiring a place in the Super Bowl and also tie the ad to its five-year $ 200 million pledge to support marketers, its workers and local communities. The company said it would also donate $ 1 for each order starting Super Bowl Sunday at Sesame Workshop, with donations exceeding $ 1 million.
“The essence of the place is optimism: giving something back to our communities in hopes of brightening the days and building land for our neighborhoods,” while helping Sesame Workshop, he told CBS MoneyWatch David Bornoff, head of consumer marketing at DoorDash.
Per Dash
“DoorDash is a great example of a newcomer who makes a lot of sense being in the Super Bowl – they’ve had a lot of growth” last year, Rucker noted.
Meanwhile, stock quote app Robinhood is also posting its first Super Bowl announcement, after a turbulent couple of weeks, when it restricted GameStop trading and other stocks after some of its users offered the stock. at stratospheric heights, followed by a immerse yourself in the value.
Many customers were upset with Robinhood for restricting their ability to trade stocks. The Super Bowl announcement, with the message “We’re all investors,” could be a way for Robinhood to rebuild its image after a backlash that included a congressional investigation into the so-called “meme stock” craze that is now infamous linked to Robinhood.
Too early?
Bud Light takes a more direct approach to pandemic recognition, with its Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade ad using the lemon metaphor for last year’s crisis. The millennial message of the new brand: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
The ad shows people at weddings, parties and other events when lemons start raining from the sky, in some cases, physically injuring people and causing damage to buildings and cars. It’s supposed to be a fun metaphor for 2020, but it’s also risky with an approach that may not seem funny to some viewers in the midst of a deadly pandemic.
“Some crazy men in their 18s and 24s will find this ridiculous and laugh at it,” Gabor predicted. “As a 52-year-old woman, I didn’t find her attractive at all.”
Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch points to an emotional ad that recalls the casual moments of compassion and camaraderie that have disappeared in the pandemic: drinking a beer with co-workers, remembering with friends in quiet times, and sharing a joke. .
“The vision comes out of real life, as so many people want to be back together with their friends and family,” Marcel Marcondes, CMO, Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement.
The “safe” approach
Other advertisers take a more traditional route of providing fun sites that don’t relate to the pandemic, the environment, or any other crisis, other than dirty clothes and swept snacks, that is.
“Whenever you have something in the world, you’ll often see the ‘safe’ approach,” Rucker noted. “Advertisers say, ‘We’re going to do something fun that’s evergreen; unless we really miss something, no one will hate us.’ .
Take Cheetos. Instead of Super Bowl LV, actor Ashton Kutcher appears asking his wife, actress Mila Kunis, if she has seen her Cheetos bag. Despite her orange-toned fingers and face, she denies being the thief, while Shaggy’s “It wasn’t me” provides the soundtrack.
Another more traditional ad comes from Tide, with a mother telling her teenage son to wash his “Jason Alexander hoodie”, which is engraved with the face of actor Jason Alexander. The teenager insists the hoodie is clean, but a series of flashbacks, which include many unhappy facial expressions from the sweatshirt, show that she is far from flawless.
Pringles is another brand that claims proven humor. Called “Space Return,” the site features people so wrapped up in stacking their Pringles tokens that mission control loses the return of two astronauts to Earth.
“Most brands try to play a little light and optimistic without being polarizing or divisive,” Gabor said.