Super Bowl ads lean on stars, humor to grab attention

Squarespace

09/02/2023 12:00

By Sheila Dang
       Feb 9 (Reuters) - An unprecedented number of
star-studded commercials will battle for attention during
Sunday's Super Bowl airing on Fox  FOXA.O , as brands focus on
getting laughs in a tough economy.
    Celebrities from the worlds of music and movies including
rock legends Ozzy Osbourne and Billy Idol, who appear in a
Workday  WDAY.O  ad about corporate "rockstars," and rapper Jack
Harlow, featured in a spot for Doritos, will hit notes of humor
and self-deprecation as the Kansas City Chiefs battle the
Philadelphia Eagles for the National Football League
championship. 
    Big-name celebrities are not uncommon in Super Bowl ads. But
the level of star power is unique this year as advertisers look
to unite viewers rather than risk souring the mood with overly
heartfelt or controversial messages, especially as consumers
deal with high inflation and political divisiveness, said
Charles Ray Taylor, a professor of marketing at Villanova
University School of Business. 
    In years past, some advertisers have used the Super Bowl to
put a focus on social issues such as gender equality and access
to clean water. Those messages will not be at the forefront this
time around as brands look to tried-and-true humor, he said. 
    Companies are of course striving to make their commercials
memorable to get the most bang for their bucks from ads that
have reached a record-high price, said Derek Rucker, professor
of marketing at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.
    A 30-second Super Bowl spot this year sold for a little over
$7 million, according to a person familiar with the ad sales.
    “Advertisers want people talking about their brand, and not
just during the 30 to 60 seconds of (Super Bowl) air time,”
Rucker said. 
    For the first time in over three decades, Budweiser-maker
Anheuser-Busch  ABI.BR  gave up its contract as the game’s
exclusive alcohol advertiser, paving the way for a boozy Super
Bowl that will include celebrities pitching other beer and
liquor brands. 
    Actor Paul Rudd, who stars in this month's "Ant-Man and The
Wasp: Quantumania," appears as the Marvel superhero, reassuring
an actual ant that he is not imbibing on the job, displaying
Heineken’s non-alcoholic beer, Heineken 0.0.
    In a Super Bowl ad for Diageo’s  DGE.L  Crown Royal, Foo
Fighters frontman Dave Grohl sits in a music studio sipping a
glass of whiskey before declaring “let’s get back to work.” 
    While more alcohol brands are in, auto makers and car
retailers are largely out compared to recent years, which 
Taylor sees as a sign of the struggling economy and supply chain
disruptions. 
    In one of the few auto ads announced ahead of the game,
actor Will Ferrell touts a new partnership between GM  GM.N  and
Netflix  NFLX.O  to feature more electric vehicles in the
streamer’s movies and shows. Ferrell takes an electric car
through romantic scenes from “Bridgerton,” while dressed as
Dustin from “Stranger Things,” and as he fights through a horde
of zombies.
    “If you’re going to get swarmed by an army of the dead, why
not get swarmed in an EV?” Ferrell says.
    HAM AND CHEESE?
    Hellmann’s mayonnaise is one of the few advertisers expected
to promote a cause, reprising its message from previous years
about reducing food waste.
    But even that Super Bowl ad will strike a lighter tone,
featuring Jon Hamm and Brie Larson as the actors with
food-related names are shrunken and find themselves in a
refrigerator with a jar of Hellmann’s. 
    Some stars will poke fun at themselves or their careers in
Super Bowl ads.
    In a spot for Busch Light, singer Sarah McLachlan, known for
her famously sad ASPCA commercials, asks viewers to donate to
“helpless animals” while in a tent in the wilderness, before
realizing the “dog” next to her is actually a wolf. 
    Website builder Squarespace's  SQSP.N  ad features multiple
versions of actor Adam Driver being interviewed for a
mockumentary about the making of the Super Bowl commercial and
working opposite himself. “I thought it was going to be really
great, because I don’t like any other actors,” he says.
    Driver told Reuters he agreed to do the commercial because
of the unique humor.
    “It’s funny," he said, "but it’s just three degrees off,
which I always find more interesting.” 
 (Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas
Editing by Bill Berkrot)
 ((Sheila.Dang@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-983-0894))