Off the field at the Super Bowl, 50-plus marketers are having a battle of their own.
They’re trying to reach the more than 100 million people tuning into the broadcast on Fox. It’s a pricey proposition: ads can cost as much as $7 million for 30 seconds.
They used light humor, plenty of cute animals and lots of celebrities to try to win over the more than 100 million viewers that tune in each year.
“This was a warm and fuzzy year where familiar faces were far more of a presence than controversial themes or hard-hitting humor,” said CEO of Brand Federation Kelly O’Keefe.
STARRY NIGHT
Many of the ads were released early but there were still some surprises in store for viewers. In its first Super Bowl ad, Dunkin’ Donuts enlisted superfan Ben Affleck and wife Jennifer Lopez.
In the ad, Affleck mans the drive-through booth at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Medford, Massachusetts with a Boston accent and shocks customers. Lopez comes through the drive-through and asks him what he’s doing. “You’re embarrassing me in front of my friends,” he says. “Grab me a glazed,” she demands. Affleck has a long association with the brand, and is often spotted carrying Dunkin’ Donuts drinks in paparazzi photos. He directed the ad, too.
GM and Netflix enlisted Will Ferrell to tout their deal to show more electric vehicles in Netflix shows. Bud Light’s ad showed Miles Teller and his wife Keleigh and dog Bugsy, who all dance to hold 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 enlists Anna Faris for one of the few slightly risque ads this year that envisions a present where everyone is naked — including the Statue of Liberty. Tennis star Serena Williams stars in two ads: one for Michelob Ultra and one for Remy Martin. T-Mobile enlisted Bradley Cooper and his mom to star in a blooper-filled ad.
One unusual star: a group of donors bought two ads to feature Jesus in a campaign called “He Gets Us.”
LIGHT HUMOR
Those not using celebrities opted for humor. Kia showed a dad on an epic quest to pick up his child’s forgotten “binky.” And E(asterisk)Trade brought back its famous talking babies: this time, they attend a wedding. Ram’s ad went slightly risque and poked fun at erectile dysfunction ads by having couples talk about “premature electrification.” Charles Taylor, a professor at Villanova University, said that approach just might work.
“Given the turn the Super Bowl has taken away from sexual appeals or humor over the past decade this will make the ad stand out and generate buzz,” Taylor said. “While they are risking offending some consumers I think the ad will be well remembered and mostly well received.”
CUTE ANIMALS
It’s not a Super Bowl without cute animals — particularly dogs.
Jeep stuffed a bevy of animals, including meercats, a bee, a bear, a goat and many others, in its ad that shows the animals dancing to a tune emanating from a Jeep 4xe. The dog-food subscription service called The Farmer’s Dog showed a heartwarming tale of a girl growing older with her dog.
Other ads feature dogs alongside celebrities: Skechers ad shows Snoop Dogg shaving a poodle; Pringles shows Meghan Trainor cuddling with her dog and Pepsi Zero Sugar shows Steve Martin as a vet operating on a dog.
