After the number of theatrical release trailers airing during the big game dropped considerably in the first years of Covid, movie studios are expected to come back to the broadcast this year in a big way. A trailer for DC’s The Flash and the latest Fast & Furious film, Fast X, are expected to air during the game, while Marvel’s upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be promoted as part of a co-branded spot with Heineken’s nonalcoholic beer.

But there’s a catch: After a brutal few years for the film industry, movie studios may never go back to airing as many trailers as they once did during the Super Bowl, according to Stuart Schwartzapfel, EVP, media partnerships at the data firm iSpot.

“With fewer movies and fewer blockbuster titles, deciding what gets prominently featured during the biggest media moment of the entire year becomes a much more selective decision,” Schwartzapfel told us.

Step back: In 2018, there were ads for seven movies (Avengers: Infinity War, Mission: Impossible—Fallout, Skyscraper, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, A Quiet Place, and Red Sparrow) during the Super Bowl broadcast, according to iSpot.

• In 2019, ads aired for six movies: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Toy Story 4, and Alita: Battle Angel. By 2020, five movies got big-game trailers.

There’s a reason why there are normally several trailers during the game: they do really well. During the 2019 Super Bowl, for example, trailers for the Marvel films Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel together accounted for more than a third of all digital engagement around Super Bowl ads, per iSpot.

Keep reading here.—KS

Last week, we surveyed readers to find out your favorite Super Bowl ads of all time and more. Check out some of your responses below.

Famous faces : If you could cast any celebrity in a Super Bowl ad, who would it be? We asked this question and got a pretty eclectic mix of responses, ranging from Weird Al Yankovic to Tom Selleck to Beyoncé. Names that repeatedly popped up include Jennifer Coolidge, Ryan Reynolds, and Kevin Hart.

Someone said they’d want to see the cast of Seinfeld reunite, which we can only hope would involve a co-branded spot for Junior Mints, Pez, and Jujyfruits. Meanwhile, another reader told us they’d pick Emma Chamberlain “for some true Gen Z representation.”

Don’t do it: We’re gonna go ahead and guess that it’s not easy to pull off a successful Super Bowl campaign. Still, some of you seem to think brands could be doing more to ensure their ads go over well. When we asked what marketers get wrong about Super Bowl advertising, we received lots of different responses.

A smattering:

• “Don’t rely on anyone hearing your ad! In this cord-cutting age, most people (and key demos!) gather in large groups or noisy bars to watch.”
• “Spending on big-name celebs instead of an awesome, creative idea. I may be biased as a videographer, but I am much more interested in a good story or captivating scene/shot selection than I am [in] who the talking head is.”
• “I think they have had a tendency to play directly to sports/football fans when casting and writing. If I don’t know [that] a character is a former winning coach or whatever, then your joke is going to fall flat (having to work their credentials into the script only makes this worse).”

Read more here.—MS

Coca-Cola is one of the biggest Super Bowl advertisers, and the company’s iconic glass bottle has made many appearances in its game-day ads. Retail Brew’s Andy Adam Newman recently looked at the history of Coke’s glass bottle and how it came to be. Read a snippet below or click here for the full story.

By 1915, the company decided that the way to foil the knock-offs was to develop and patent an inimitable bottle. They sent a design brief to around 10 glass companies across the country, with a simply worded challenge for a complicated task: develop a “bottle so distinct that you would recognize it by feel in the dark or lying broken on the ground.”

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Let’s get some shoes: How Converse brings ideas to life in its “innovation lab.”

Visuals: A look at why creatives shouldn’t worry about AI art (at least not yet).

Star light, star bright: If you’re not familiar with Snapchat’s Spotlight tab, check out this primer.

More money, more problems? Not when it comes to your marketing budget. Join our Financial Forecasting course and learn what it takes to secure the dollars you need to succeed. Click here to lock in your seat.

Take a W: Winning an ANDY Award is good for a creative’s soul. It’s like getting a much-needed hit of affirmation for hard work, and what wins here often wins at other major shows. Get validation.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

Stat: Fewer than half (43%) of 71 publisher professionals recently surveyed by Digiday “said they agree that their companies’ advertising revenue will grow this year.”

Quote: “Jesus turned water into wine and still had to buy a :30 spot in the AFC championship game, so don’t tell me your product doesn’t need advertising.”—@rga  tweeted on Sunday

Read: “As Cookies Wane, Retargeting Protocol Fledge Emerges as Privacy Sandbox Favorite” (Adweek)

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• How USA Today’s Ad Meter came to help determine Super Bowl success
• About three-quarters of people who plan to watch the Super Bowl said they’re excited for the ads, research says
• Budget woes getting marketers down? Make the most of it, experts say