Super Bowl Ads Go for Comedic Catharsis

Many Super Bowl advertisers also use celebrities, a standard strategy no matter what the world is going on. This year’s commercials show Amy Schumer selling Hellmann mayonnaise; Michael B. Jordan as Alexa for Amazon.com Inc .; Maya Rudolph as quarter-sized cowboys for Klarna Bank AB’s Buy It Now and Pay service; a two-dimensional Matthew McConaughey launching Doritos 3-D Crunch; and Post Malone and Cedric the Entertainer promoting Bud Light, alongside advertising characters like Bud Knight.

In addition to the Doritos ad, PepsiCo Inc. of

Frito-Lay airs a Cheetos commercial that covers Shaggy’s 2000 hit song “It Wasn’t Me” starring Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, and another multi-brand commercial showing star Super Bowl players fighting over their snacks.

“When we looked at the Super Bowl and tried to figure out what consumers are looking for, it was that moment of joy and liberation,” said Rachel Ferdinando, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Frito-Lay North. America.

To be sure, not all advertisers shy away from the tensions that have defined this past year.

Jeep runs a dark two-minute ad featuring Bruce Springsteen and acknowledging the division in the country. The last image shows the outline of the United States with the phrase: “In the United States of America”.

“I don’t live for funny or serious. I don’t care, ”said Olivier François, director of global marketing at Stellantis NV, the parent company of brands such as Jeep and Chrysler. “I’m looking for a lasting message.”

Announcers have spat up to $ 5.5 million for 30 seconds of airtime during this year’s clash between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs, hoping to capitalize on the ‘one of the few remaining televised events that reach out to a wide range of consumers at once.

This year’s game is the culmination of a coronavirus-battered season, which has forced disruptions like a delayed Thanksgiving scoring game due to an outbreak on the Baltimore Ravens.

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

While attempts at humor have always dominated the list of Super Bowl commercials, historically the commercials have encompassed a range of themes and tones, including serious and emotional approaches. This year, there seems to be a lot less variation, said Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

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

“Some of the ads that ran on the Super Bowl last year would never air this year,” he added, citing a 2020 Super Bowl ad for Google that featured an older man who lost his wife and New York Life’s moving ad about Love as Action.

The challenge for advertisers this year was two-fold: to sell their products and philosophy to a leading nation, but also to stand out in a sea of ​​wellness ads, executives said.

“There’s more pressure this year,” said Eliza Yvette Esquivel, director of strategy for North America at brand agency FutureBrand. “Human beings are tired of the onslaught of what has happened to us in the past 12 months, and there have been very few times we have been relieved of it.”

Mountain Dew has recruited actor John Cena for a playful Super Bowl commercial promoting his Major Melon flavor.

“A deaf brand is a brand that has no empathy for what consumers are going through. We’ve spent a lot of time on it, ”said Greg Lyons, marketing director for Mountain Dew parent company, PepsiCo Beverages North America. “Over the past few years, with racial inequality, with politics, it’s been harder to make sure you hit the right tone, and Covid just added to that.

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

General Motors Co.

enlisted comedians Will Ferrell, Kenan Thompson and Awkwafina to keep its promise of new electric vehicles; the trio aim to warn Norway that America will crush its record for electric vehicles.

Mexican Grill Chipotle Inc.

features a boy who explains 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 of its food standards and support for farmers, but initially had no plans to buy a Super Bowl seat, said Chris Brandt, chief marketing officer.

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

“We spent a lot of time on the tone of this place getting it right, not that serious and depressing but a little bit of optimism and talking about how we feel about farming,” Mr. Brandt said. . “It just felt like it was big enough, but still had a good, light tone.

Some advertisements refer to the pandemic, but obliquely. Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade, for example, describes 2020 as an unrelenting storm of lemons from the sky, wreaking havoc on everyone’s lives.

Other Super Bowl regulars drop by a plaza this year. Budweiser has said he will redirect some of the money he spent on the Super Bowl toward vaccine awareness efforts. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are also on the sidelines, although Pepsi continues to sponsor the halftime show.

Newcomers to the event include Kimberly-Clark Body

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

Some of the new entrants are achieving strong business performances despite the pandemic and its lockdowns, including lawn care marketer Scotts Miracle-Gro Co.

, Mercari online marketplace Inc.,

online car retailer Vroom Inc.,

Klarna, independent network Fiverr International Ltd.

and competing online food delivery services DoorDash Inc.

and Uber Eats.

Most have chosen not to show the pandemic in their ads, but not all. Scotts Miracle-Gro, for its part, acknowledged in its ad that the backyards were “a whole year old.”

Write to Alexandra Bruell at [email protected]