Super Bowl commercials go for comic catharsis

Many Super Bowl advertisers also use celebrities, a standard strategy, no matter what happens in the world. This year’s ads show Amy Schumer selling Hellmann’s Mayonnaise; Michael B. Jordan personalizes Alexa for Amazon.com Inc .; Maya Rudolph as four-quarter-sized cowboys for the buy-now-pay-later service Klarna Bank AB; a two-dimensional Matthew McConaughey throwing Doritos 3-D Crunch; and Post Malone and Cedric the Entertainer who promote Bud Light, along with advertising characters such as the Bud Knight.

In addition to the Doritos ad, PepsiCo Inc.’s

Frito-Lay is working on 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 star Super Bowl players fighting over the snacks thereof.

“When we watched the Super Bowl and tried to understand what consumers were looking for, it was this moment of joy and release,” 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 tension defined over the past year.

Jeep has a gloomy two-minute ad starring Bruce Springsteen acknowledging the division in the country. The last frame shows the outline of the USA with the phrase: “To the reunited states of America.”

‘I’m not shooting for funny or serious. I do not care, ”said Olivier Francois, global head of marketing at Stellantis NV, parent company to brands including Jeep and Chrysler. “I’m looking for a lasting message.”

During Sunday’s game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs, advertisers coughed up as much as $ 5.5 million for 30 seconds of airtime in hopes of taking advantage of one of the few remaining TV events that simultaneously numbered reach consumers.

This year’s game is the culmination of a season filled with the coronavirus, which forced interruptions such as the delay of a party game that would take place on Thanksgiving due to an outbreak in the Baltimore Ravens.

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

Although attempts at humor have always dominated the Super Bowl advertising position, the ads have historically contained a range of themes and tones, including serious and emotional approaches. There appears to be much less variation, said Tim Calkins, a clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

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

“Some of the ads that appeared in the Super Bowl last year would never be offered this year,” he added, referring to a 2020 Super Bowl ad for Google in which an elderly man loses his wife has, appeared, and the emotional ad of New York Life about love as an action.

Advertisers’ challenge this year was twofold: sell their products and philosophies to a country in the foreground, but also stand out in a sea of ​​feel-good advertising, executives said.

“There’s more pressure this year,” said Eliza Yvette Esquivel, North America’s strategic head of trading agency FutureBrand. “People are tired of the onslaught of what has happened to us over the past twelve months, and there have been very few moments that have united us for it.”

Mountain Dew recruited actor John Cena for a playful Super Bowl ad promoting the Major Melon flavor.

” A tone-deaf brand is not empathy for what consumers go through. We spent a lot of time on it, ”said Greg Lyons, chief marketing officer of PepsiCo Beverages, North America’s parent. “Over the last few years, with racial inequality, with politics, it’s been harder to make sure you hit the right note, and Covid just added to that.”

While most brands shied away from stories that were serious or too emotional, some attempted to promote their efforts at social responsibility while keeping the tone sunny.

General Motors Co.

comedians Will Ferrell, Kenan Thompson and Awkwafina appointed to fulfill their promise of new electric vehicles; the trio wants to warn Norway that America will break its EV record.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.

contains a boy talking about how a burrito can change the world, based on ‘how we plant things, water things and cultivate things …’

Chipotle planned a campaign this year to raise awareness of its food standards and support for farmers, but initially did not plan to buy a Super Bowl spot, said Chris Brandt, head of marketing.

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

“We spent a lot of time fixing it, not so seriously and depressingly, but a little bit of optimism and talking about what we think of farming,” he said. Brandt said. “It felt like it was big enough, but still had a good light tone.”

A few ads refer to the pandemic, but in an oblique way. Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade, for example, portrays 2020 as a relentless storm of lemons from the sky destroying everyone’s lives.

Other Super Bowl players are appearing in one place this year. Budweiser said it would divert some of the money he would spend on the Super Bowl to vaccine awareness efforts. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are also putting it out, though Pepsi still sponsors the rest-time program.

Newcomers to the event include Kimberly-Clark Corp’s

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

Some of the first beginners delivered strong performances despite the pandemic and its closure, including Scotts Miracle-Gro. Co.

, online market Mercari Inc.,

online car dealer Pious Inc.,

Klarna, freelance network Fiverr International Ltd.

and competitive online delivery services by Dash Inc.

and Uber Eats.

Most chose to keep the pandemic out of their ads, but not all. Scotts Miracle-Gro admits in its ad that backyards have had “a whole year”.

Write to Alexandra Bruell by [email protected]