Mocs News Reporting the news that matters most to UTC
By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Eugene Levy’s trademark eyebrows fly off for Little Caesars. A tongue dances to Shania Twain to promote Nestle’s Coffee Mate Cold Foam. And Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal reunite at Katz’s Deli in an ad for Hellmann’s.
A frenzied mix of silliness and celebrities is hitting the airwaves and the internet, and that means one thing: it is Super Bowl ad time again.
Veteran advertisers are using tried-and-true tactics like celebrity cameos, humor and cute animals to win over watchers. Meanwhile, first-time and newer advertisers are courting outrageousness and using stunts to try to stand out in the battle to capture the attention of the more than 120 million viewers expected to tune into Sunday’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs on Fox.
Super Bowl viewers are a unique audience because they’re as primed to watch the ads as they are the game.
“This is a societal moment where we come together as a country,” said Kimberly Whitler, marketing professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. “We may be on different sides, you know, of the gridiron or the field. But we come together.”
With 80-plus ad spots divvied up among the 50-something advertisers during the game, it’s tough to make sure viewers remember your brand message. And with a few ad spots going for a record $8 million for 30 seconds this year, the stakes have never been higher.
But the price tag is worth it, advertisers say. Rachel Jaiven, head of Haagen-Dazs marketing, said the brand decided to make its first-ever appearance in the game due to the size of the viewership and its association with snacking.
“We know at the Super Bowl these days that everyone watches, it’s a wide audience,” Jaiven said. The brand’s ad shows stars from the “Fast & Furious” franchise enjoying an ice cream bar. “We thought it was time for us to tell our story, remind people what they love about Haagen-Dazs and of course, have them stock up on Haagen-Dazs in their freezer.”
In order to garner more publicity, many advertisers release their ads ahead of the game. Of the ads that have already been released, here’s a sampling of the approaches advertisers are taking during the big game this year.
CELEBRITY-PALOOZA
Hellmann’s ad made a splash ahead of the game by reuniting Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal’s “When Harry Met Sally” characters at Katz’s Deli enjoying a sandwich with Hellmann’s. Sydney Sweeney joins to utter the famous line “I’ll have what she’s having.”
Chris Pratt and Chris Hemsworth wear Ray-Ban Meta AI-powered glasses while looking at art. Hemsworth accidently eats a banana in an art piece worth $6.2 million, and Kris Jenner appears to scold them.
Actors Catherine O’Hara and Willem Dafoe star as pickleball players hustling younger players to win Michelob Ultras.
Soccer star David Beckham learns he has a twin named Dave Beckham who turns out to be Matt Damon. They don’t have much in common but both drink Stella Artois.
Matthew McConaughey explains a conspiracy theory that football was invented to sell food, with cameos by Martha Stewart, Greta Gerwig, Charli XCX, Kevin Bacon and YouTuber Sean Evans.
