Pepsi and Britney, Doritos and Lil Nas X, Snickers and the late Betty White. When done right, star-studded Super Bowl commercials can become pop-culture references for years to come. Just last year, roughly 50 celebrities made an appearance in a Super Bowl ad.

But partnering with a celebrity can be risky (see: Lacoste and Novak Djokovic, Peloton and Chris Noth, or Dior and Travis Scott). On the biggest brand-centric day of the year, how can Super Bowl advertisers ensure that their spokesperson doesn’t end up being a liability?

Of course, there’s no way to predict the future. However, Doug Shabelman, CEO of marketing agency Burns Entertainment, told Marketing Brew assessing brand-safety risks is often the first step before making any partnership suggestions.

• “Our job is to educate and steer [brands] in the right direction,” he said. Burns Entertainment is working on three Super Bowl commercials this year, which involve stars from Marvel and Ted Lasso. According to Shabelman, the more high-profile the celebrity (and the budget), the more in-depth the background research. That’s especially true for the Super Bowl.
• He compared a low-budget influencer campaign to one with a celebrity like Scarlett Johansson: More resources are going to go toward vetting Johansson than the influencer, looking back at her brand partnership history, where her past campaigns performed well, and any potential issues that could come up.

If you are what you say you are

But that’s not to say social media stars are being overlooked. Nowadays, they’re utilized the same way models, actors, and singers are in campaigns.

• Case in point: In 2020, TikTok’s favorite dancer, Charli D’Amelio, was featured in a Super Bowl ad for Sabra hummus.

“With celebrities, it’s a little bit easier to know [if] they have legal troubles right now or what’s been in the press about them,” Chris Pearson, director of talent management at influencer marketing platform Captiv8, told us. “When we start getting into influencers, they probably don’t have all that press, so we have to do a deeper dive.”

Measuring risk: According to Pearson, Captiv8 has software that scans social media accounts of potential influencer partners, going back through their posts and updating in real time. It then gives them a brand safety score out of 100. Sometimes what it picks up, like political statements or curse words, might not be a concern for brands, depending on what they’re looking for. But Pearson said it’s still important to be aware.

“The last thing we want to do is put someone in front of a brand, and then all of a sudden, it comes out that this person had some stuff in the past that the brand wouldn’t be thrilled with,” he explained.

Even with risks involved, Shabelman said most brands aren’t deterred by stories of celeb deals gone bad for a number of reasons, which you can read here.—KH

OkCupid isn’t a brand to keep quiet on social issues—even when the MTA disapproves. As part of its “Every Single Person” campaign, which debuted last year and is now back for round two, the dating app is running an OOH ad in the NYC subway welcoming “pro-choicers” to its service. It comes days after the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, when the landmark decision’s future has perhaps never been more uncertain.

It’s not the first time the brand has spoken about the cause. Owned by Dallas–based Match Group, OkCupid began giving users the option to add a pro-choice badge to their profile in September after the passage of Texas’ SB 8 law, which bans most abortions after around six weeks of pregnancy and authorizes private citizens to sue suspected violators. At the time, the brand said every time a user added the badge, the company would donate $1 to Planned Parenthood (up to $50,000).

Big picture: A handful of brands stepped up to take a pro-choice stance on abortion after SB 8 passed, including Ben & Jerry’s and fellow dating app Bumble. But it’s not often you see an explicitly pro-choice ad. (Unlike anti-abortion ads, which seem to thrive on every interstate in America.)

Despite a majority of Americans believing that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to Pew, many brands have been hesitant to take a public stance on it. American Airlines, AT&T, Oracle, and Apple were some of the brands with operations in Texas that were called out for not speaking up after SB 8 was passed.

OkCupid’s global chief marketing officer, Melissa Hobley, called it “shameful” that companies aren’t doing more:

• “We’ve seen corporate response to other things, and that’s so important,” Hobley told Ad Age. “It’s just the deafening silence on this issue, when most Americans still support women’s right to choose, is pretty terrible.”

+1: PepsiCo is currently facing a boycott over its $15k donation to the Texas Republican Party, dated almost three months after Governor Greg Abbott signed SB 8 into law. PepsiCo said the donation was made in 2020 but was cashed the following year.—KH

New year, new agency. For some at least.

Several brands kicked off 2022 with new agencies. We’ve rounded up some of the biggest changes below.

• Even pest-control brands need “breakthrough creative.” Orkin is hoping DDB Chicago can provide just that—the agency won the business after a review.
• Zola, which hired a new chief marketing officer in November, has selected Arts & Letters, an agency based in Richmond, Virginia, as its “first lead creative agency,” per Ad Age.
• VaynerMedia won Tinder’s heart; the agency was named its global media agency of record.
• Bye-bye, BBDO: CVS Health has chosen Publicis Groupe to handle its US creative account.
• Edgewell, the company behind brands like Banana Boat and Schick, selected Havas Media Group as its US media agency of record for its sun, shave, and hygiene business.
• KFC picked Spark Foundry as its US media agency.

TBD: Kohl’s is searching for a new media agency, while Jack in the Box is conducting a review for its creative one.—MS

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

Live from…wherever: It’s Saturday night–three months from now. How to take advantage of Instagram Live’s scheduling feature.

Hut, hut, hike: Twitter shares engagement stats around the NFL playoffs.

The rest is still unwritten: Here are some tips to make your B2B whitepaper more creative.

Watch: Morning Brew is on YouTube! Our shows cover the tech, trends, and companies you care about, but we do it in a way that won’t make your eyes burn from jargon or boredom. Check out some of our newest shows.

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

• The reason why sports streams have advertising gaps, explained
• IBM just released the results of its ad targeting bias audit
• A flurry of brands will make their first appearances in the Super Bowl this year

Which headlines are real marketing news, and which one is fake?

1. Beyoncé Prepares For Valentine’s Day With New Adidas ‘Ivy Heart’ Collection
2. 19 Crimes Partners with Martha Stewart and Marquee Brands to Launch Martha’s Chard
3. Nas Scored Aflac’s Sweet Film Addressing Healthcare Disparities
4. Jimmy Johns Makes Good on its Promise to Deliver “Freaky Fast” Using Drones

Keep scrolling for the answer.