Super Bowl ads target humor
Commercials were criticized last year for being too somber
After a relatively somber 2015, it looks like humor will be back in full force during Super Bowl 50.
From Seth Rogen and Amy Schumer hosting a Bud Light party to the possibility of Steve Harvey spoofing his Miss Universe mix-up, there’s likely to be a lot more levity in the commercials that air when the big game is played Feb. 7. That comes after a year in which one of the most talked-about spots was a Nationwide ad centered around a child who’d died.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt there’s going to be a return to humor,’’ says Charles Taylor, a marketing professor at Villanova University who also edits the International Journal of Advertis
ing. “And I do think it’s partially a reaction to last year’s game having more ads with a very serious tone.”
Shock Top, an Anheuser-Busch wheat beer that’s a newcomer to the Super Bowl, will feature a wise-cracking orange wedge trading barbs with comic T.J. Miller. Christopher Walken’s quirky per- sona will be on full display in a 60-second Kia ad for the carmaker’s new 2016 Optima midsize sedan. And Mountain Dew, along with Skittles, whose Super Bowl ad will feature rocker Steven Tyler, may also make a play for the funny bone, Taylor says.
But that’s not the only trend emerging as advertisers roll out sneak peeks at their marketing campaigns. While it may be less common than last year, some brands are still expected to use their moment on one of the biggest marketing stages in sports, to drive home messages of social responsibility.
Colgate, for instance, in its Super Bowl debut will champion water conservation.
“A big part of this is, in a really competitive environment, companies need to think about corporate social responsibility,” Taylor says.
Taylor pointed to last year’s Microsoft ads in the Super Bowl, which put the spotlight on a woman who connects children to technology on her computerfilled bus. They showed how the company’s technology helped Braylon O’Neill, a boy with prosthetic legs. He says they are examples of how such messages can resonate positively.
Meanwhile, the ad from Nationwide, the big insurer, remains controversial. A boy talks about all the milestones in life he missed, like riding a bike, because he died before he could achieve them. Then, an overflowing bathtub is shown.
“That’s really the ad more people were talking about last year than any other,” Taylor says. “I think Nationwide’s intentions were very good in calling attention to accidents involving children in the home. People just didn’t want to think about a child dying while they were watching the Super Bowl.”
The use of social media platforms to help build brand buzz has also been accelerating, from mid-game tweets, to mobilebased contests. This year, Taylor says, look for the real-time airing of ads on YouTube that are pegged to a particular moment in the game.
“This has the potential of being the biggest thing to come out of this year’s Super Bowl,” he says. “I think it’s a brilliant way of dealing with these multitasking and multimedia younger consumers.”