THE SAFE PLAY
By and large, this year's Super Bowl advertisers look to be clever without rocking the boat
Just like ball security is a common attribute of winning football teams, playing things safely and securely may be the key to advertising success in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
In the wake of the election and the cultural fragmentation that has carried over into President Donald Trump’s administration, advertising analysts say companies spending up to $5 million for a 30-second spot on Fox during the Falcons-Patriots game from NRG Stadium are generally avoiding themes that could smack of political partisanship.
“We’re not seeing it,” said Bruce Lefkowitz, executive vice president of advertising sales for the Fox Networks Group. “The Super Bowl has become a national holiday, and I think everybody can put aside politics for a day to watch a great football game.”
Derek Rucker, a professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management who conducts an annual game-night study of Super Bowl ads, said that particularly in these times, advertisers don’t want to spend millions and offend customers in the process.
“This is a year when saying the wrong thing can get you in hot water,” Rucker said. “So brands will play it safe in terms of creative strategy.”
So closely is this year’s scrutiny for potential controversy that a couple of ads — one of which will air, one that will air in altered form — have attracted early attention.
Anheuser-Busch, a staple of the Super Bowl ad watch, will air a 60-second spot titled “Born the Hard Way” about its founder Augustus Busch, who emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1857.
It begins with the phrase, “You don’t look like you’re from around here” and, “You’re not wanted here. Go back home,” between phrases of “Welcome to America” and “Welcome to St. Louis” with the closing tagline, “When nothing stops your dream, this is the beer we drink.”
A company spokesman said the ad is intended to “resonate with today’s entrepreneurial generation,” and Rucker said it navigates the topic in a way that will appeal to a variety of viewers. He said the brandheritage campaign likely was planned before the recent immigration debate.
Another ad touching on social issues is Audi’s “Daughter,” which features a father tracking his daughter through a Soap Box Derby-style race and wondering whether her future will be determined by gender-based inequities of equal work for equal pay. It concludes with Audi’s pledge to offer salary equality because “progress is for everyone.”
And, in contrast to the immigrant experience of Budweiser’s ad, WeatherTech will again emphasize the “Made in America” quality of its vehicle floor mats.
At the other end of the Super Bowl ad-experience spectrum, first-time advertiser 84 Lumber’s 90-second spot was initially rejected by Fox because it included a reference to “the wall,” a nod to Trump’s campaign promise to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
84 Lumber, which has three stores in Houston and 84 across Texas among its 250 locations in 30 states, resubmitted an edited ad. The full five-minute spot with the wall reference will be posted Sunday night on the company’s website.
“We knew Fox had concerns about some of the elements, so when they told us they were not going to air it, we understood, and we came to a compromise they would approve,” said Amy Smiley, the company’s director of marketing.
Smiley said the ad is the kickoff to the company’s efforts to recruit 400 new managers for 20 stores opening this year.
However, the company’s 90-second ad, posted Thursday on YouTube, is given entirely to the journey of a Spanishspeaking woman and her daughter, presumably toward the United States. The narrative leaves the two alone around a campfire in the desert, with a tagline to view the rest of the story at Journey84.com.
The NFL also rejected an ad from GNC Nutrition, which sells products that include two substances banned by the league. Advertising Age reported Friday that GNC has informed Fox it will pursue legal action over the rejected ad.
Most of the ads released before the game, however, are notably devoid of the pointed barbs that were common during the election campaign.
“I thought some advertisers would follow President Trump’s success in putting down your competition in a funny way,” said Betsy Gelb, a marketing professor at the University of Houston. “But the nearest you have is Wendy’s making a big deal that its competitors serve frozen meat (in a spot featuring Foreigner’s 1980s hit ‘Cold as Ice’).”
Though companies may be playing it safe in terms of content, Snickers plans a live ad during the third quarter featuring actor Adam Driver, and Hyundai has enlisted director Peter Berg to assemble a spot featuring U.S. troops at an overseas base who will be filmed watching the game in 360-degree immersive pods to resemble an in-stadium experience.
Berg will assemble the 90-second spot from a trailer outside the stadium, and it will air immediately after the game.
Elsewhere, celebrities will once again have major roles, including Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and actor Jeffrey Tambor for Tide, Peter Fonda for Mercedes-Benz in an “Easy Rider” homage, Melissa McCarthy for Kia, John Malkovich for Squarespace, Steve Carell for Honda, Billy Zane and Rob Riggle for KFC and, in an ad that will air in Houston and nine other major markets, Lady Gaga for Tiffany.
Bob Horowitz, who for 16 years has produced the annual show “Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials,” said that among his favorites for Sunday are Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and model Miranda Kerr for Buick, Avocado’s mysterious but bumbling “Secret Society,” Budweiser’s “Born the Hard Way” and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for Intel.
He bemoans, however, the absence of Frito-Lay’s “You Crash the Super Bowl” viewergenerated ads for Doritos, which is not advertising in the game this year.
Celebrities and humor, however, can be risky. The video-ad-technology company Unruly said only 10 percent of Super Bowl 50 viewers thought that last year’s ads were funny.
Unruly executive Devra Prywes said advertisers stand a better chance of their ads being remembered if they try to evoke deeper emotions.
As for this year, Prywes said many advertisers are opting for movielike commercials, including the Coen brothers’ ad for Mercedes-Benz and action-movie stars Gal Gadot and Jason Statham for website designer Wix.
Other analysts note that this year’s ad menu is lighter on cars and pharmaceutical companies and heavier on packaged goods.