By Dawn Chmielewski
(Reuters) – Anheuser-Busch InBev is bringing back its iconic workhorse Clydesdales for a Super Bowl ad that the brewing company says celebrates the “grit and determination” of the American spirit.
The Budweiser commercial marks a return to tradition, after a disastrous social media promotion for its Bud Light brand in 2023 featuring transgender influencer, Dylan Mulvaney, sparked calls for a boycott.
“We’re definitely seeing Budweiser play it safe this year,” said Charles R. Taylor, a marketing professor at Villanova’s School of Business and author of a book about Super Bowl ads. “Everybody loves the Clydesdales.”
The return to safe, familiar and nostalgic ground represents a trend among some advertisers for this year’s Super Bowl LIX, a rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans. Brands are expected to lean on humor, celebrity and warm references to America’s heartland, reflective of the cultural zeitgeist.
For the first time, OpenAI and Perplexity will seek to capitalize on the biggest televised event of the year, bringing artificial intelligence into the homes of millions of Americans.
“We’re all in this good, happy place, and want to be entertained,” said Gartner analyst Nicole Denman Greene. “So, to insert your brand in that moment of fandom … you have to deliver creative that is resonant with that audience.”
Super Bowl advertisers are flashing serious star power, with an estimated two-thirds of the commercials featuring celebrities.
Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal reenact their famous deli scene from the 1989 romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally,” in a commercial for Hellmann’s mayonnaise that also includes a brief appearance from “Euphoria’s” Sydney Sweeney. Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara double-up on the pickleball court to hustle opponents out of their Michelob Ultra beers. Eugene Levy, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Post Malone, Vin Diesel and Kermit the Frog also show up in the 30-second spots.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is expected to air its first commercial during the Super Bowl, bringing the race for artificial intelligence supremacy to America’s bars and living rooms. Meanwhile Perplexity AI is hosting a Super Bowl sweepstakes that offers a $1 million prize for asking questions during the game.
Greene said AI companies are seizing on the Super Bowl’s reach to address consumer anxiety about the fast-evolving technology.
“All of the ads I’ve seen — and I can’t wait to see all of the creative — it’s more about making people see how they can be more productive, and how their lives could be better,” said Greene. “I don’t know if that’s going to eliminate the fear, because, as people learn more about the capabilities, we’re seeing in the data, that they get less certain.”
This year’s game will have fewer car commercials than in previous years. Stellantis is the only automaker to announce a Super Bowl ad, in which actor Glen Powell delivers a humorously macho twist on the familiar “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” fairy tale.
Ads hawking beers and snacks return. They will share screen time with newcomer venture capital-backed Liquid Death, the canned water brand that bought its first Big Game ad to promote its Killer Cola and Cherry Obituary.
So far, the most popular Super Bowl ad is the winner of Doritos’ “Crash the Super Bowl” contest, depicting an alien abduction.
“It’s off the scale on funny, on curiosity,” said Sean Muller, founder and chief executive of TV advertising measurement firm iSpot.TV. “People love the ad.”
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; editing by Ken Li and Diane Craft)
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