This image provided by Pringles shows the Pringles 2024 Super Bowl NFL football spot. (Pringles via AP)The Associated Press
If you watch the Super Bowl for the commercials, you no longer have to wait until the big game to see what advertisers have in store for viewers.
Many companies now release ads ahead of the game in the hope of capitalizing on the buzz that builds as the game approaches. They hope to recoup some of the reported $7 million that’s the going rate for a 30-second spot by capturing pre-game attention.
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It’s a big challenge to stand out among the 50-plus advertisers that will be vying for the eyes of the more than 100 million people expected to tune in this year to CBS (and Paramount+ and Nickelodeon) on Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 11). Last year’s broadcast on Fox was watched by a record 115.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
So advertisers pull out all the stops. In the ads released before the big game, Budweiser focuses on its iconic Clydesdales, Michelob Ultra capitalizes on the iconic star power of soccer legend Lionel Messi, and Uber Eats goes for laughs with an ad where Jennifer Aniston forgets she starred in “Friends” with David Schwimmer. Now that the game has aired, plenty more have been added into the mix.
Here are some of the buzziest ads that have been released in time for the Super Bowl.
Beyoncé and Verizon
In a savvy, funny, multi-layered ad for Verizon, Beyoncé attempts to break the internet in myriad ways, from a Steve Jobs-like speech to the first performance in space (trust us, it’s funnier than it sounds on paper). And at the end, she announced a new album, quickly revealed on her Instagram page to be dropping on March 29.
BMW
Christopher Walken makes fun of people making fun of Christopher Walken, with a cameo performance by Super Bowl halftime star Usher. As always, he walks the walk.
Mountain Dew
Aubrey Plaza has “a blast” in the way only she can with the help of a carbonated citrus beverage. Plaza is reliably droll, and there’s a “Parks and Recreation” homage that pays off nicely.
E-Trade
E-Trade brought back its beloved babies to trash talk adults in a pickeball match, poking fun at the sport and the supposed ease of investing all in one quick 30-second chunk.
CeraVe
For a few weeks now, there’s been hints of actor Michael Cera’s association with skincare brand CeraVe, including strategically placed paparazzi photos and memes on their social media account. And now for the big reveal, the Super Bowl ad that underscores that dermatologists, not Michael Cera, create CeraVe.
Booking.com
Actress Tina Fey has so many choices on the online travel agency booking.com site she has to hire body doubles: an influencer type played by her 30 Rock co-star, Jane Krakowski, to stay at a fancy hotel, a bigfoot handled by another 30 Rock co-star, Jack McBrayer, to stay at a cabin, and even actress Glenn Close, who stays on a farm.
Bud Light
The Bud Light genie grants wishes — like giving someone ’80s metal hair and someone else a giant bicep — to Bud Light drinkers. NFL legend Peyton Manning, rapper Post Malone and more also appear on screen.
Budweiser
Budweiser is bringing back familiar characters to its gameday slot. In the beer brand’s nostalgic ad, a snowstorm threatens to derail a delivery to a small-town bar. But a team of Clydesdales and a Labrador retriever team up to help Budweiser make the delivery.
Coors Light
Molson Coors’ ad brings back their “Chill Train” that last appeared in advertisements nearly two decades ago, in 2005. A tongue-in-cheek ad shows the train crashing into a football watching party to bring partiers Coors Light. LL Cool J turns out to be the conductor.
Doritos Dinamita
Two grandmotherly women ("Dina” and “Mita”) chase after “Top Gun: Maverick” actor Danny Ramirez, who took the last bag of Doritos Dinamita from a store shelf, leaving actress Jenna Ortega behind.
Dove
Dove’s ad begins seemingly whimsically showing young girls having mishaps playing sports to the tune of “It’s the Hard Knock Life.” But the ad cuts starkly to a girl looking self-consciously in the mirror. The message: low body-confidence leads to girls quitting sports, not the mishaps.
e.l.f. cosmetics
In an ad stuffed with celebrity cameos — including “Judge Judy” Judy Sheindlin — e.l.f. cosmetics reunited “Suits” stars Gina Torres, Rick Hoffman and Sarah Rafferty in a courtroom spoof.
Google’s heartstring-pulling ad follows a blind man as he uses “Guided Frame” — Google’s AI-powered accessibility feature for the Pixel camera that uses a combination of audio cues, high-contrast animations and tactile vibrations — to take pictures of the people and places in his life.
Hellman’s
In an ad for Hellman’s, Kate McKinnon makes an unusual discovery: her cat can talk. Well, sort of. Her furry friend can say one word, “may-ow” — which skyrockets her to celebrity status and causes a mayonnaise-buying frenzy. The “Mayo Cat” becomes so famous that she even dates (and soon dumps) Pete Davidson.
Michelob Ultra
Lionel Messi’s Super Bowl debut shows off his soccer mastery and apparent loyalty to Michelob Ultra. In the ad, the soccer star also gets an assist from NFL legend Dan Marino and nod from “Ted Lasso’s” Jason Sudeikis.
Mountain Dew Baja Blast
Aubrey Plaza is always having a blast, whether she is stuck in an elevator or being abducted by aliens — or reuniting with her “Parks and Rec” co-star Nick Offerman while riding dragons.
M&M’s
Retired Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, Buffalo Bills’ Bruce Smith and wide receiver Terrell Owens never got a Super Bowl ring, but M&M’s and Scarlett Johansson present the “Almost Champions” ring to the almost winners.
Oreo
According to Oreo, the key to making life’s biggest decisions is to “twist on it.” An ad for the iconic sandwich cookie suggests that even Kris Jenner used the tactic before agreeing to start “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” back in 2007.
Pringles
After a gas station clerk points out Chris Pratt looks like the man in the Pringles logo, he goes viral and stars in a movie about “Mr. P.”
Starry
PepsiCo’s year-old lemon-lime soda’s debut Super Bowl ad features rapper Ice Spice dealing with a breakup by spending time with the Starry lemon and lime spokescharacters — the message: “It’s time to see other sodas.”
State Farm
Action movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in a State Farm ad, which opens with him rescuing two puppies from a burning building.
T-Mobile
Jason Momoa shows off his singing chops in an ad that shows Scrubs duo Zach Braff and Donald Faison singing about T-Mobile home internet to the tune of “Flashdance ... What a Feeling.” “Flashdance” star Jennifer Beals pops in to spray Momoa with water and ask him to sing it again — without his shirt.
Uber Eats
When someone tells Jennifer Aniston they didn’t know you could order a wide variety of products on Uber Eats, Aniston tells them, “In order to remember something, you’ve got to forget something else.” That prompts a wave of forgetting: David and Victoria Beckham forget Victoria Beckham used to be Posh Spice, and Jennifer Aniston forgets she starred in “Friends” with David Schwimmer.
With files from The New York Times