NEW YORK (AP) – The Super Bowl battle between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles has begun – and off the field, more than 50 marketers are waging a battle of their own. They are trying to reach the more than 100 million people tuning in to the Super Bowl broadcast on Fox. It’s an expensive proposition: 30 seconds of commercials can cost up to $7 million.
Many commercials were released ahead of schedule but there were still some surprises left for the viewers. In its first Super Bowl ad, Dunkin’ Donuts features superfans Ben Affleck and wife Jennifer Lopez.
In the ad, Affleck mans a drive-thru booth at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Medford, Massachusetts with a Boston accent and jerks off to customers. Lopez comes through the drive-thru and asks him what he’s doing. “You’re embarrassing me in front of my friends,” he says. “Catch me a shining one,” she demands. Affleck has a long association with the brand, and is often seen in paparazzi photographs carrying the Dunkin’ Donuts drink. He also directed advertisements.
Experts say marketers are using celebrities, light-hearted humor and tons of cute animals to help spread their messages. Darden School of Business professor Kim Whittler said last year, marketers tried to put the fun back into sports two years after COVID. It is the same this year as well. “Lots of humor and ads that make you smile (if not laugh),” she said.
One of his favorites: The Bud Light ad featuring Miles Teller and his wife, Keleigh, and dog Bugsy, who all dance to the holding music.
“I dare you not to watch the commercial and smile,” she said.
Many of the ads were celebrity heavy: Melissa McCarthy sings a song for Booking.com, and Adam Driver turns himself into a multiplier for Squarespace. Pepsi Zero Sugar hired Ben Stiller and Steve Martin. Avocados from Mexico enlist Anna Faris for one of the few slightly risqué commercials this year, which imagines a present where everyone is naked — including the Statue of Liberty. Tennis star Serena Williams stars in two commercials: one for Michelob Ultra and one for Remy Martin. T-Mobile mistakenly enlisted Bradley Cooper and his mother to star in an ad.
Those not using celebrities opted for humour. Ram talks about “premature electrification” to couples, mocking the ads for erectile dysfunction. Kia stars a father on an epic quest to retrieve his child’s forgotten “binky.” And E(Asterisk)Trade brings back its famous talking babies: this time, they attend a wedding.
And it’s not a Super Bowl without cute animals — especially dogs. A dog-food subscription service called The Farmer’s Dog featured a heartwarming story of a girl aging with her dog. A Skechers ad featured Snoop Dogg shaving a poodle; Pringles shows Meghan Trainor cuddling up with her dog. and Pepsi Zero Sugar stars Steve Martin as a veterinarian operating on a dog.
