Super Bowl advertising has always been a high-profile activity, with brands spending millions on 30 seconds of airtime alone to show their messages to more than 100 million viewers. But in 2021, the stakes are even higher after a tough year of a pandemic, an economic crisis, demonstrations against racial justice and an attack on the Capitol.
Some old advertisers are sign out from this year’s Super Bowl LV, including veteran players like Coke and Pepsi. Brand experts note that advertisers who will appear in the game may need to walk a fine line with their posts, with Northwestern University business professor Derek Rucker describing the situation that resembles “icebergs in the water”.
“Going to the Super Bowl means speaking to an audience of 100 million or more – you have to make sure you don’t get an unintended message, that you don’t hit an iceberg along the way,” he said. “There is some concern on the part of advertisers – I think they are right if they are careful.”
A memorable Super Bowl ad could be worth a lot more than the airtime investment, which is $ 5.5 million this year for a 30 second spot. Advertisers with memorable commercials can stand out from the crowd by winning customers and building goodwill – like with Apple’s famous ‘1984’ ad that helped him stand out in the early PC wars.
But a poorly executed Super Bowl commercial can wreak havoc on a business, as was the case with the Just for Feet ad in 1999 in which white hunters followed a Kenyan runner barefoot, drying him and forcing shoes on his feet.
“What you saw and what the brand meant are two different things,” Rucker said of Super Bowl ads not working. “As a brand you have to think about the big picture and how consumers can respond to it.”
CBS (the parent company of CBS Interactive and CBS MoneyWatch) will air the game on Sunday, Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m. ET. The network said late last month that ad inventory is ‘nearly sold out’, with some newbies buying ad space while regulars like Coke are dropping out.
Chipotle, DoorDash
Despite the risks, the championship game remains a good opportunity for companies to grab the spotlight, said Deb Gabor, CEO of Sol Marketing, a branding strategy consultancy. She pointed to Chipotle, which is putting out its first Super Bowl ad this year.
“They’ve had a positive way for a whole year,” noted Gabor. “They were moving towards a convenience-focused model that had a Chipotle app well before the pandemic – they were well positioned for the changing world.”
The ad’s message focuses on eco-friendly farming and ties in with Chipotle’s marketing efforts to source food responsibly – and Gabor said this is likely a theme that scores with many consumers, given growing concerns about climate change and the environment.
Another newcomer to the Super Bowl this year is DoorDash, which also saw a lift during the pandemic this year. With restaurants restricting or sometimes closing indoor dining and consumers worried about dining out due to the risk of exposure to viruses, millions more consumers have turned to delivery apps like DoorDash to order food.
While DoorDash didn’t pre-release the Super Bowl ad, it offers a sneak peek at teasers featuring Sesame Street characters such as Cookie Monster (who gobbles up cookies ordered from DoorDash, of course) and Super Grover. The teasers appear to be a nod to the pandemic – like Super Grover ordering paper towels – and aim to showcase ‘local heroes’ such as small businesses and delivery drivers.
DoorDash said it wanted to build on its growing brand awareness by securing a spot in the Super Bowl, as well as linking the ad to its five-year $ 200 million commitment to support merchants, its workers and local communities. The company said it will also donate $ 1 for every order starting on Super Bowl Sunday to Sesame Workshop, with a maximum of $ 1 million.
“The essence of the spot is optimism – giving back to our communities in the hopes of brightening their days and building groundwater for our neighborhoods,” while also helping the Sesame Workshop, David Bornoff, head of consumer marketing at DoorDash, told me CBS MoneyWatch.
By Dash
“DoorDash is a great example of a newcomer who makes a lot of sense to play in the Super Bowl – they’ve seen a lot of growth,” Rucker noted.
Stock trading app Robinhood, meanwhile, is also running its first Super Bowl ad, which follows a turbulent few weeks in which it restricted trading of GameStop and other stocks after some of its users bid the stock to stratospheric heights, followed by a dive into value.
Many clients were angry with Robinhood for limiting their ability to trade the stock. The Super Bowl ad, with the message “ We are all investors, ” could be a way for Robinhood to rebuild its image after a backlash, including calls for a congressional investigation into the so-called “ meme stock ” mania now notoriously associated with Robinhood.
Too early?
Bud Light takes a more direct approach to recognition of the pandemic, with its ad for Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade using the lemons metaphor for last year’s crisis. The age-old message of the new brand: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
The ad shows people at weddings, parties and other events when lemons start to rain from the sky – in cases where people are physically injured and damage to buildings and cars is caused. It should be a humorous metaphor for 2020, but it also takes a risk with an approach that may not seem so hilarious to some viewers in the midst of a deadly pandemic.
“Some crazy men, ages 18 to 24, will find that ridiculous and laugh about it,” Gabor predicted. “As a 52-year-old woman, I didn’t find it attractive at all.”
Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch strives for an emotional ad that reminds people of the casual moments of compassion and companionship that have all but disappeared in the pandemic – having a beer with colleagues, reminiscing with friends in quiet moments, and sharing a joke.
“The insight comes straight from real life, as so many people just long to get back together with their friends and family,” Marcel Marcondes, CMO, Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement.
“The ‘safe’ approach”
Other advertisers are opting for a more traditional way of offering humorous places that don’t refer to the pandemic, the environment or any other crisis – other than dirty laundry and discarded snacks.
“When there’s something going on in the world, you’ll often see the ‘safe’ approach,” noted Rucker. “The advertisers say, ‘We will do something funny that is always green – unless we really miss something, no one will hate us.’ ‘
Take Cheetos. The Super Bowl LV spot features actor Ashton Kutcher asking his wife, actor Mila Kunis if she’s seen his bag of Cheetos. Despite her orange-colored fingers and face, she denies being the thief, while Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me” provides the soundtrack.
Another more traditional ad comes from Tide, in which a mother tells her teenage son to wash his “Jason Alexander hoodie,” which is engraved with actor Jason Alexander’s face. The teen insists the hoodie is clean, but a series of flashbacks, featuring the sweatshirt’s many unhappy facial expressions, show it’s far from spotless.
Pringles is another brand that strives for time-tested humor. Called “Space Return,” this place features people so busy stacking their Pringles chips that mission control misses the return of two astronauts to Earth.
“Most brands try to play it a little lightly and cheerfully without polarizing or dividing,” Gabor said.