Advertisers bet big that the audience was turning to the Super Bowl for a comforting escape and aired a series of classified ads featuring familiar celebrity faces, gentle humor and stuffed dogs.
This is not a year for avant-garde humor or experimentation. After the global pandemic, with looming economic uncertainty and war in Ukraine, advertisers were simply looking for other people to feel good. And it worked.
“This year’s classified ads took a very gentle touch and focused on viewer enjoyment and well-being,” said Charles Taylor, a professor of marketing at Villanova University. “Most followed a transparent formula of combining A-list celebrities with humor. , with some nostalgia and/or music wisely. “
Super Bowl advertisers search every year to reach the more than one hundred million people who watch the show. It’s an attractive proposition: classified ads can charge up to $7 million for 30 seconds.
It’s a replacement year for the Super Bowl, as more alcohol ads were allowed to air after Anheuser-Bush gave up its exclusivity deal and the sponsor of the halftime show switched from Pepsi to Apple Music after a decade.
Many classified ads were launched early, there were still surprises for viewers. In its first Super Bowl commercial, Dunkin’ Donuts recruited superfan Ben Affleck and his wife Jennifer Lopez.
In the ad, Affleck runs the service cab behind the wheel of a Dunkin’ Donuts in Medford, Massachusetts, wearing a Boston accessory and surprises customers. Lopez crosses the car line and asks him what he is doing. “You’re embarrassing me in front of my friends,” he said. Take a vitreous,” he asks. Affleck has a long arrangement with the logo and is seen dressed in Dunkin’ Donuts drinks in paparazzi photos. He also directed the ad.
GM and Netflix turned to Will Ferrell to tout their agreement to showcase more electric cars on Netflix screens. The Bud Light ad featured Miles Teller and his wife Keleigh and the dog Bugsy, all dancing to the music. Melissa McCarthy sings a jingle for Booking. com, and Adam Driver makes multiples of himself for Squarespace. Pepsi Zero Sugar hired Ben Stiller and Steve Martin. Avocados From Mexico is selecting Anna Faris for one of this year’s few classified ads that imagines a gift where everyone is naked, adding the Statue of Liberty. Tennis star Serena Williams stars in two commercials: one for Michelob Ultra and one for Remy Martin. T-Mobile recruited Bradley Cooper and his mother to star in a nonsense-filled ad.
One star: A donor organization bought two classified ads to feature Jesus on a crusade called “He Catches Us. “
And U2 aired an ad for their Las Vegas residence that showed unidentified orbs hovering over the cities. One of the orbs, a baby who says “Achtung!” On the same day the United States announced it had shot down a fourth unidentified flying object, photographs of orbs hovering over villages took on a jarring tone.
Many marketers have tried to cash in on beloved film and television properties. This year, the Rakuten store hired Alicia Silverstone and Elisa Donovan to recreate a scene from the ’90s romantic comedy “Clueless. “”Breaking Bad,” which first aired in 2008, stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul.
Other advertisers looking to capitalize on favorite content from previous years: T-Mobile’s ad featured John Travolta making a song with a T-Mobile-themed edition of “Summer Nights” from “Grease” with “Scrubs” stars Donald Faison and Zach Braff. Michelob Ultra evoked “Caddyshack” as he prepared his ad at the Bushwood Country Club featured in the film.
Those who didn’t wear celebrities opted for humor. Kia showed a father in an epic search for his son’s forgotten “pacifier. “The classified ads were unconventional: A Tubi ad showed giant blue rabbits throwing other people into holes to demonstrate the concept that Tubi is helping other people “find rabbit burrows they didn’t know they were looking for. “
Ram’s ads have become silly and mocked classified ads for the action of the erectile disa by getting couples talking about “premature electrification. “Villanova’s Taylor said this technique could work well.
“Given the spin that the Super Bowl has taken away from sex appeals or humor over the past decade, this will allow advertising to stand out and generate excitement,” Taylor said. “While they would possibly offend some consumers, I think the ad will be remembered and well received. “
It’s a Super Bowl without cute animals, especially dogs.
Jeep has filled a multitude of animals, adding meerkats, a bee, a bear, a goat and many others, in its ad showing animals dancing to a song emanating from a Jeep 4xe. Dog food subscription service called The Farmer’s Dog showcased the heartwarming story of a woman getting old with her dog.
Other classified ads feature dogs alongside celebrities: a Skechers ad shows Snoop Dogg shaving a poodle; Pringles shows Meghan Trainor cuddling her dog and Pepsi Zero Sugar shows Steve Martin as a veterinarian operating on a dog. Amazon’s ad shows a circle of relatives getting a puppy for their senior dog.
Advertisers rarely try tricks to capture attention. The biggest this year was FanDuel, who recruited former NFL player Rob Gronkowsi to try to shoot a live basket on the show.
If successful, consumers who bet at least $5 on the Super Bowl had to get a percentage of $10 million in single bets. But the challenge with stunts is that they are risky. FanDuel caused confusion with his announcement, which gave the impression of showing Gronkowski. doing the kick. But FanDuel said it was lost, but announced that bettors would still get a $10 million percentage in single bets.
More successfully, Peacock’s endgame announcement attempted to strike a blow by spotting other ads. The concept of his “Poker Face” screen is that Charlie, played through Natasha Lyonne, can tell when someone is lying. The ad shows Lyonne watching the attack with an important person. in a bar. She tells him that M’s characters
Missed appointments by at least 15 minutes.
Market data provided through ICE data services. ICE Limitations. Developed and implemented through FactSet. News via The Associated Press. Legal statement.