NEW YORK (AP) — Super Bowl Sunday is here — and, as always, there’s a vast roster of advertisers ready to vie for fans’ attention during game breaks.
Airing a Super Bowl commercial is no easy feat. On top of the reported $7 million price tag for a 30-second spot during the game, brands enlist the biggest actors, invest in dazzling special effects and try to put together an ad that more than 100 million expected viewers will like — or at least remember.
“It’s hard to get this attention — and there isn’t really one recipe,” said Linli Xu, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota. “It has to fit with (each) brand.”
This image provided by Uber Eats shows the Uber Eats 2024 Super Bowl NFL football spot. (Uber Eats via AP)
What to know about the Super Bowl:
- When the 49ers get a second shot at a Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs it will be a rare title game rematch.
- The Chiefs went from being the weekly favorite to something entirely different: an underdog.
- If you watch for the commercials, you no longer have to wait until the big game to see what advertisers have in store.
- The halftime show went from marching bands to megastars.
This image provided by e.l.f. Cosmetics shows the e.l.f. Cosmetics 2024 Super Bowl NFL football spot. (e.l.f. Cosmetics via AP)
That means advertisers get creative and tackle different approaches. Some familiar favorites, like Budweiser’s Clydesdales, tap into nostalgia year after year. Others attempt to make viewers laugh with light humor and endless celebrity cameos. And a few take more serious or emotive tones that pull on heartstrings.
Many advertisers have already released their spots ahead of Sunday’s San Francisco 49ers-Kansas City Chiefs face off, which airs on CBS and streams on Paramount+.
Some of these commercials include Christopher Walken dealing with people impersonating him all day for BMW, rapper Ice Spice sipping on Starry after a “breakup” with another lemon-lime soda and ETrade’s spokesbabies returning in an ad that shows them playing pickleball — or “basically tennis for babies.”
This image provided by Paramount shows the Paramount+ 2024 Super Bowl NFL football spot. (Paramount via AP)
There’s also a slew of mini TV show reunions in ads this year. Jennifer Aniston seemingly forgets she ever worked with her “Friends” co-star David Schwimmer in an ad for Uber Eats, for example. And in a commercial stuffed with celebrity cameos — including “Judge Judy” Judy Sheindlin — e.l.f. cosmetics reunites “Suits” stars Gina Torres, Rick Hoffman and Sarah Rafferty in a courtroom spoof.
Of course, not all advertisers release their ads ahead of the game, so there will be surprises on Sunday. In a U.S. presidential election year, it’s possible we might see a candidate ad. And while there have been no indications of such, many wonder if advertisers will capitalize on Taylor Swift’s buzz in some way.
By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS/Associated Press
Grantham-Philips is a business reporter who covers trending news for The Associated Press. She is based in New York.