Super Bowl ads go for comic Catharsis

Many Super Bowl advertisers also use celebrities, a standard strategy regardless of what happens in the world. This year’s commercials show Amy Schumer selling Hellmann mayonnaise; Michael B. Jordan playing Alexa for Amazon.com Inc .; Maya Rudolph as four quarter-size cowboys for Klarna Bank AB’s buying and paying service; a two-dimensional Matthew McConaughey launching Doritos 3-D Crunch; and Post Malone and Cedric the Entertainer promote Bud Light, alongside advertising characters like Bud Knight.

In addition to Doritos’ announcement, PepsiCo Inc

Frito-Lay publishes a Cheetos ad that repeats Shaggy’s 2000 hit song “It Wasn’t Me” with Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, and another multi-brand ad featuring Super Bowl star players fighting for their snacks.

“When we looked at the Super Bowl and tried to understand what consumers were looking for, it was that moment of joy and release,” said Rachel Ferdinando, senior vice president and head of marketing at Frito-Lay North America.

Of course, not all advertisers shy away from the tensions they defined last year.

Jeep publishes a somber two-minute ad starring Bruce Springsteen and recognizes the division in the country. The last frame shows the US scheme with the phrase, “In the United States of America.”

“I do not shoot for serious or funny. I don’t care, “said Olivier Francois, global director of marketing at Stellantis NV, a parent company of brands like Jeep and Chrysler.” I’m firing to get a lasting message. “

Advertisers coughed up $ 5.5 million for 30 seconds of airtime during this Sunday’s game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs, hoping to take advantage of one of the few events remaining television that reach a wide range of consumers at once.

This year’s game is the culmination of a season the coronavirus suffered, causing disruptions such as the delay of a Thanksgiving-scheduled tent game due to an outbreak at the Baltimore Ravens.

The game is still expected to blow other TV shows out of the water. Last year it reached approximately 100 million viewers.

While attempts at humor have always dominated the Super Bowl ad list, historically ads have encompassed a wide range of themes and tones, including serious and emotional approaches. This year, it looks like there will be far fewer variations, said Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

“Advertisers reflect our behaviors and the life we ​​lead, but only in the most positive way,” Professor Calkins said.

“Some of the ads that appeared in the Super Bowl last year would never be published this year,” he added, citing a 2020 Super Bowl ad for Google featuring an elderly man who lost his wife and husband. New York Life emotional announcement about love as an action.

This year’s advertisers ’challenge was two-pronged: selling their products and philosophies to a neighboring nation, but also standing out in a sea of ​​ads that feel good, executives said.

“There’s more pressure this year,” Eliza Yvette Esquivel, North America’s strategic director at the brand agency FutureBrand, said. “We humans are tired of the attack of what has happened to us over the last twelve months, and there have been very few eyeball moments in which we have been relieved.”

Mountain Dew recruited actor John Cena for a playful Super Bowl ad that promoted his Major Melon flavor.

“A deaf brand is one that has no empathy for what consumers live. We spent a lot of time on it, “said Greg Lyons, director of marketing for PepsiCo Beverages, North America, the father of Mountain Dew.” In recent years, with racial inequality, with politics, it’s been harder to secure. -I know the right tone is taken and Covid has been added “.

While most brands shunned serious or overly emotional stories, some tried to promote their social responsibility efforts by keeping the tone sunny.

General Motors Co.

comedians Will Ferrell, Kenan Thompson and Awkwafina hired their promise of new electric vehicles; the trio set out to warn Norway that the United States will crush its electric vehicle record.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.

presents a boy who talks about how a burrito can change the world, based on “how we plant things, water things and grow things …”

Chipotle had planned a campaign this year to raise awareness among farmers about their food standards and support, but initially had no intention of buying a Super Bowl seat, said marketing director Chris Brandt.

When the chain’s advertising agency, Venables Bell & Partners, showed him the site, he changed his mind.

“We spent a lot of time on the tone of this place to do well, not so serious and depressing, but a little optimism and talk about what we think about agriculture,” Brandt said. “It just looked like it was big enough, but it still had a nice cheerful tone.”

Some ads refer to the pandemic, but obliquely. Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade, for example, portrays 2020 as a relentless storm of lemons from the sky, wreaking havoc on everyone’s lives.

Other Super Bowl regulars go through a spot this year. Budweiser said he would redirect some of the money he would have spent in the Super Bowl to vaccine awareness efforts. Coca-Cola and Pepsi do the same, though Pepsi continues to sponsor the halfway show.

Newcomers to the event include Kimberly-Clark Corp.

Huggies, Hellile’s and Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s from Unilever PLC.

Some of the first attendees have strong business performance despite the pandemic and its blockages, including lawn care marketer Scotts Miracle-Gro Co.

, Mercari online marketplace Inc.,

Vroom online car dealer Inc.,

Klarna, independent network Fiverr International Ltd.

and rival online food delivery services DoorDash Inc.

and Uber Eats.

Most chose to keep the pandemic out of their ads, but not all. Scotts Miracle-Gro, for example, acknowledged in its announcement that the back gardens have been “quite a year.”

Write to Alexandra Bruell to [email protected]