This year’s ads play it safe with cameos, talking animals
NEW YORK — Talking animals, celebrity cameos and crowd-pleasing rock songs: This year’s Super Bowl advertisers are sticking to the classics in their efforts to win over Big Game viewers on Sunday.
Skittles will showcase Steven Tyler’s high range on “Dream On,” Budweiser is enlisting Helen Mirren to chide drunk drivers, and Audi will have an astronaut drive its luxury R8 sports car to the tune of David Bowie’s Starman, to note just a few of the ads that have garnered pregame buzz. (Many advertisers release their spots online ahead of the game.)
The Super Bowl is advertising’s biggest stage, and each year brands battle to stand out among the 40-plus commercials that air during the game. The goal is to rivet the 114 million people expected to tune into the game. Marketers also hope to dominate online chatter during the game.
But there’s a fine line between standing out and risking offence, and this year, the Super Bowl advertisers are going for safety. Movie and rock stars, anthemic songs and cute animals are in. Sitting it out on the sidelines? Raciness, “bro” humour and anything remotely edgy.
“The days of bros and boobs are over,” said Kelly O’Keefe, a marketing professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Here’s a look at the biggest trends:
CELEBS GALORE
This year, with ads costing up to a record $5 million, dozens of advertisers have enlisted celebrities to get their brand message across. A trade group for Mexican avocados signed up Scott Baio to appear in a fictional alien history exhibit about humans in the 1980s. Snickers brings us Willem Defoe as a hungry Marilyn Monroe. Six celebrities such as Harvey Keitel and Serena Williams appear to praise the BMW Mini Clubman as a “chick car” and urge people to “defy labels.” Christopher Walken compares the Kia
Optima sedan to wearing colourful socks.
SERVICE MESSAGES
Anheuser-Busch, traditionally the biggest advertiser on the Super Bowl, has tapped Helen Mirren to stringently call out drunk drivers for being “pillocks” (British slang for idiots). Colgate-Palmolive is running a spot urging people to save water by turning off the tap when they brush their teeth. The NFL is back with a domestic-abuse message for the second year with a sombre ad that shows how texting can convey signs of domestic abuse.
Even Axe, known for its racy ads aimed at teenage boys, is going for a mature message that urges millennials to focus on what makes them unique rather than traditional status symbols.
LIGHT HUMOUR
Bud Light spoofs the presidential election furor with Amy Schumer and Seth Rogan drumming up enthusiasm for the make-believe “Bud Light Party.” Jeff Goldblum plays piano and sings Movin’ on Up while suspended in midair for Apartments.com. Kevin Hart stalks his daughter’s date in a Hyundai spot.
And Mountain Dew takes weirdness to a new level with a “Puppy monkey baby” — pretty much exactly what it sounds like — mascot in an ad for its Kickstart drink.