It’s early days in an already turbulent new presidency, but the Super Bowl will always be the Super Bowl, at least from an advertising point of view. The writer David Mamet once described it as a legitimate national holiday, along with the Oscars. The event is escapist. It exists in its own universe, full of celebrities, humour, sentiment and the occasional smart twist.
All those qualities are summed up by our first pick: a remake of a celebrated scene from When Harry Met Sally, by VML for Hellmann’s mayonnaise. Presumably IKEA will be on hand next year to promote a wagon wheel coffee table (if you know, you know).
Not all of the campaigns trod familiar ground. Open AI caused a buzz by running a surprise Super Bowl debut, in which it kept things minimalist.
Even people who actually sit down to watch the game know that it’s also an advertising showcase. Which is why the next spot from TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles is particularly relevant, as it takes a “meta” approach by assembling advertising icons of the past.
Oh – wait – Uber Eats just did more or less the same thing, only in a different way. Matthew McConaughey gives us great acting value for our time as he exposes a Super Bowl marketing conspiracy theory with the help of Special Group. (Extra points for the bacon.)
Targeting Generation X could be seen as one of the themes of this year’s lineup, which would explain the presence of the always adorable Muppets for Booking.com, courtesy of Zulu Alpha Kilo NY. Statler and Waldorf always zap me right back to childhood.
Also appealing to an older cohort, Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara do a great turn as pickleball hustlers for Michelob ULTRA and Wieden + Kennedy.
There was certainly a lot of silver being flashed around this year: check out these gals, going wild for WeatherTech in one of the game’s most entertaining spots, with plenty of Easter eggs for movie buffs. The agency is Pinnacle.
One trend-tracker remarked that there were more spots related to “women” and “health” this year. The AdForum team felt the ads skewed mostly as masculine as ever, but Nike shook things up with an awesome line-up of female athletes - gymnast Jordan Chiles, basketball player Sabrina Ionescu and sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson, among others - and a challenging new slogan: "So Win." The spot's stark black and white and inspiring voiceover are vintage Nike.
Dove was also present. Simple, touching and on-message – from Ogilvy London.
There was also this concoction with Charlie XCS and Martha Stewart, for Uber Eats (whose advertising budget must be severely depleted after the Game).
For a European ad junkie like myself, one of the pleasures of reviewing the Super Bowl spots is that you’re introduced to brands you’ve never heard of – I’m looking at you, Intuit Turbotax, NerdWallet and HexClad – although at least the latter featured a British face.
The Big Game, of course, takes place on Sunday – so let’s end with a guy who’s having a “case of the Mondays”, fixed by Coors Light.
Can’t get enough Super Bowl ads? See our selection here.
