Super Bowl LV: With America Still In Lockdown, Advertisers Bet On Humor

Plus: Coors Didn’t Buy A Super Bowl Ad. It Wants To Tap Into Your Dreams Instead.

Hello and happy Super Bowl weekend!

After a year that's been anything but normal, Super Bowl LV is shaping up to be unlike any big game Americans have ever seen. But the ads, well, they'll be pretty normal. And that means humor and nostalgia.

Over the past week, we've spoken with nearly a dozen CMOs and advertising execs behind many of this year's ads to learn the thinking behind their commercials. While humor will be a key theme for both the usual advertisers and large field of newcomers, expect a handful of earnest messages that acknowledge the events of the past year. Read our full story here.

Ahead of the game, Forbes Reporter Brianne Garrett spoke with tennis star Serena Williams about starring in Michelob Ultra's ad that challenges people to find joy in everyday life rather than just in achievements.

Contributor Soon Yu wrote about NFL CMO Tim Ellis and his vision for the league beyond just the games.

Meanwhile, Wealth Reporter Giacomo Tognini interviewed entrepreneur Jared Isaacman about buying an ad to promote efforts to raise $200 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, offering those who donate a chance to fly to space.

Also, don't miss Forbes Staff Writer Madeline Berg's story about why The Weeknd won't be paid for performing in the Super Bowl halftime show.

While the game, ads and halftime show will, in some ways, be fairly routine, how people watch will be different. According to a recent survey conducted by Roku, 86% of users plan to watch the game from home while 42% plan to stream it rather than watch on TV. Roku also found that nearly one in four viewers plan to order food via third-party delivery services. (That could be good news for brands like UberEats, PostMates and DoorDash, which all have ads in the game.) And of those ordering food, 57% plan to order from local restaurants, which could be a boon for many of the spots that continue to be hit hard by the ongoing pandemic.

According to the analytics firm TalkWalker, social media conversations in the week leading up to the game are outpacing those had in 2020 with 650,000 mentions compared to 557,000 a year ago. According to Talkwalker, the brands with the greatest reach so far include Budweiser—which isn’t even running a Super Bowl ad this year—followed by State Farm, Verizon, Tide and Toyota.

Stay tuned through the weekend and next week for more. And if you have story pitches, news tips, or anything else to share, please get in touch.

Marty

Creativity

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CMO Profile

"We really think that consumers and fans are looking for a moment of escape, a moment of release, a moment of entertainment. Life feels a bit too deep. Here’s a moment where we can bring some joy to people’s lives. And so we believe that leveraging humor and joy and this feeling of a bit of escape from frankly a world that’s got a lot of tension in it. And gosh, does the world need joy more than ever."

Rachel Ferdinando

CMO, Frito-Lay North America

Leadership & Strategy

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Across Forbes