Super Bowl commercials everyone will be talking about — starring Idris Elba, for one
From future shock to nostalgia — or crypto to Clydesdales — Super Bowl LVI's 70-plus commercials this Sunday are expected to engage a national mood still mired in the immediate past, and yearning for that better tomorrow, say Super Bowl ad observers.
After a grinding pandemic, people want to get back on the road (booking.com), get back in shape (Planet Fitness), or just get back to normal (Budweiser Clydesdale). They'd like a new car (Nissan), but will probably have to settle for a used one instead (Carvana). They mostly just want to eat (Lay's), drink (Zero Carb Bud LIght), and be merry (Apple +) — but especially have a celebrity tell them how to.
"I don't think I've ever seen so many celebrities or A-listers in [prereleased] Super Bowl ads,'' says Charles Taylor, Villanova professor of marketing who has studied Super Bowl advertising trends for decades. "With the pandemic, the idea this year is simply that the country is worn out, so there will be a lighter approach to the ads and a lot more ads with humor."
Nevertheless, the shock of the new will arrive in some measure this Sunday too. Cars will be back in force, albeit electric ones, and so will dogs — robotic dogs, that is. And just as Super Bowl XXXIII (1999) was filled with dot-com commercials, ads for cryptocurrency will arrive this Sunday too, including one starring Matt Damon.
"Crypto is having its coming out moment," said Sina Nader, the head of partnerships for Bahamian-based cryptocurrency exchange and first-time Super Bowl advertiser FTX, during an advertiser roundtable sponsored by trade publication Advertising Age on Tuesday. "People are talking about it everywhere, and the perfect time to lean into that is with the Super Bowl."
Nearly 40 commercials have been prereleased online so far. Here are five that have attracted some buzz:
SALESFORCE
Largely ignoring its product — too complicated for a minute-long ad anyway? — this cloud-based software company has instead opted for a contrarian message that pokes fun at those billionaires who have set their sights on Mars or the metaverse. "It's not time to escape," says Matthew McConaughey, who is returning for his second Super Bowl in a row (he was last year's "Flat Matthew" for Doritos), "it's time to engage!" "Join #TeamEarth," per this ad, "because earth is the new frontier." This one comes under the heading of "feel-good," with a backward glance to better, earthbound times, so it's got a dash of nostalgia, too.
A CLYDESDALE'S JOURNEY
Budweiser's Super Bowl fixture (dating back to 1986) returns to the big game with all the iconography of this legendary campaign, and some added bonuses too — not-so-subliminal hints about healing, freedom, and getting back to normal, with the tag, "in the home of the brave, down never means out." For those paying attention, there's history here too: The Labrador retriever of the ad is meant to be the adult dog which first appeared as a puppy back in the Super Bowl Clydesdales ads of 2014 and 2015. Recall the "lost dog" commercial where the puppy is saved from a wolf by the Clydesdale. In this ad — directed by Oscar winner Chloe Zhao ("Nomadland") — the old friends are reunited.
ALEXA
Amazon's "Mind Reader" has buzz — 13 million YouTube views so far — in part because it seems to offer a look into the private lives of a private show-biz power couple (Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost). Plus, there's humor and this year, humor + celebrity is the prevailing trend.
"We're good at helping you book travel," says the famous spokesman in the furry trapper cap in Booking.com's SB ad (this one is a teaser). "Like amazingly good." But they're not the only ones making that claim; Expedia will also advertise in this Super Bowl, with online travel advertising just one of 2022's Super Bowl mini-trends. But Idris Elba is squarely part of the single biggest Bowl trend this year: A-list celebrities moonlighting for products or services that wouldn't get all that much traction without them.
There are so many celebrities this year that some are packed into individual ads — Mike Myers, Rob Lowe, Seth Green and Mindy Sterling for GM electric cars, or Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Rodman, Danny Trejo and William Shatner into Planet Fitness. While you don't see Megan Thee Stallion or Charlie Puth in this one, you will hear them: He's the beatboxing fox, and she's the one singing lines like "I’m all that and a bag of Flamin’ Hot chips." The tune, meanwhile, is familiar and should be: It's a version of Salt-n-Pepa's "Push It."
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