TAMPA (AP) – The latest on Super Bowl commercials. (All times EST.)
___
8:00 pm
Most brands that have money to spend on Super Bowl ads are already household names, but the big game is also an opportunity for newbies to make a big splash.
That’s what the CEO of the Swedish oat milk manufacturer Oatly tried in an ad starring himself. “Wow, wow, not a cow,” sang CEO Toni Petersson, playing a keyboard in a grain field.
The bizarre song and non-professional vocals got a mix of social media applause and brickbats, which seemed to be the point. Moments after it aired, the company started promoting a T-shirt that said, “I hated that Oatly commercial.”
“If you’ve just seen our CEO sing in an oat field during the big game, we can’t give you those 30 seconds back, but we can give you a free T-shirt that lets the world know where you stand in our attempt to promote Toni’s singing skills to a wider audience, ”the company said in a tweet.
Another lesser-known brand, Dr. Squatch, also promoted itself with a bizarre ad, but hired comedian James Schrader to pitch the California soap maker who focused on men’s hygiene and natural ingredients. ___
7:15 pm
General Motors used humor in a Super Bowl ad to promote its ambitious drive to get more Americans to buy electric vehicles.
GM has a goal of making the vast majority of the vehicles it produces electric by 2035, and the entire company carbon neutral five years after that.
When actor Will Ferrell discovers that Norway has more electric vehicles per capita than the US, he embarks on an insane journey across countries with singer and actress Awkwafina and comedian Kenan Thompson to show that GM’s new electric car battery will soon be available to everyone. will be available.
GM’s Cadillac brand also has an ad that airs later in the game, inspired by the classic 1990 movie “Edward Scissorhands” that offered a hands-free function for its electric SUV, the Lyriq.
___
19:00
Super Bowl ad DoorDash went hard on nostalgia and enlisted Muppets from Sesame Street to convey the message that DoorDash can deliver goods from local stores, not just restaurants. “Hamilton” actor Daveed Diggs spice up the ad with a spicy version of the children’s song “People in Your Neighborhood,” which turns into a rap.
DoorDash is one of more than 20 new Super Bowl advertisers this year, taking the plunge after benefiting from a shift to home delivery as people squat at home during the pandemic. DoorDash’s first quarter ad enlisted the help of characters including Cookie Monster, Big Bird and Grover to convey the message that DoorDash can be used to pick up items from the local store like paper towels.
The ad is directed by Michel Gondry, director of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”.
“Over the past year, we’ve expanded our business with new categories,” said Kofi Amoo-Gottfried, DoorDash’s vice president of marketing. “It made sense to use the Super Bowl as a time to get this message across, given the scale of the audience we can talk to.”
It’s not the first time Diggs has worked with Muppets – he appeared in Sesame Street skits in 2017.