This year the big and the new dominate the ad scene for the Super Bowl. Let’s hope the game is as enjoyable as the commercials are each year!
The Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers will meet in Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7, 2016, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., and televised on CBS. And the roster of known advertisers is filling up fast.
Ad buyers who have placed clients in the game say units are fetching between $4.6 million and a little more than $5 million. Over the last five seasons, the approximate asking price for a 30-second Super Bowl ad has increased by an average of 11.1% each year. The Super Bowl itself has drawn $5.9 billion in inflation-adjusted ad spending since 1967.
CBS CEO Les Moonves said Nov. 7 that the game was essentially sold out but that the network was holding some time back to sell to late-comers. “They’re going to beg us for two spots,” he said.
Keep checking this page for a complete list of participating national advertisers are we identify them, and sign up for the Super Bowl newsletter to get updates as we break news.
Acura (American Honda)
Buy: One spot in the first quarter, the first Super Bowl ad to promote Acura since Super Bowl XLVI in 2012.
Creative: Acura’s return to the Super Bowl, released widely on Jan. 29, features the NSX supercar, which ships in spring. The NSX was the subject of Acura’s last Super Bowl ad in 2012, long before it was available for shipment. That ad, Acura’s Super Bowl debut, featured Jerry Seinfeld battling noted gearhead Jay Leno for the first NSX off the production line.
Agency: Mullen Lowe
Amazon
Buy: To be determined
Creative: In its first Super Bowl appearance, Amazon will promote Echo, its voice-controlled virtual assistant. Amazon released a 15-second teaser for the buy on Jan. 27. The teaser shows actor Alec Baldwin and former football pro Dan Marino who are preparing for a Super Bowl party with help from Alexa, the name for Amazon’s virtual assistant. Amazon is using #BaldwinBowl to promote the commercial.
Agency: To be determined
Anheuser-Busch InBev
Buy: The brewer, the exclusive beer advertiser for the Super Bowl, plans to run two ads for Budweiser (a 30-second and 60-second spot), a 60-second ad for Bud Light, a 30-second ad for Michelob Ultra’s first big-game appearance since 2000 and one 30-second ad for Shock Top wheat beer’s Super Bowl debut. It had originally secured a total of just three minutes of ad time, but later bought an additional 30 seconds to have more time for Budweiser.
Creative: Budweiser released its minute-long ad, an anti-drunk driving message starring Helen Mirren, on Feb. 2. Bud Light said Jan. 22 that Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen will star in a new campaign for the brew called “Bud Light Party” that has a political theme and will run during the Super Bowl. Tagline: “Raise One to Right Now.” On Feb. 3, the Wednesday before the game, Bud Light released it. The campaign marks the debut effort for Bud Light by Wieden & Kennedy New York and comes as the brewer’s most important U.S. brand seeks to reverse a sales slump. In addition to Ms. Schumer and Mr. Rogen, actor Michael Pena will also appear in the Super bowl ad. And Anheuser-Busch InBev released its Michelob Ultra Super Bowl debut on Feb. 4, the Thursday before the game.
Agencies: Anomaly for Budweiser, Wieden & Kennedy for Bud Light, and Anomaly Toronto for Shock Top. Ultra’s ad is being handled by FCB Chicago, which won the business a year ago.
Apartments.com
Buy: One 60-second spot, the first Super Bowl ad for the apartment-search website. Aside from the national spot, Apartments.com will also air eight local commercials in the big game.
Creative: Jeff Goldblum will reprise his role as Brad Bellflower, an eccentric Silicon Valley maverick. Mr. Goldblum appeared last year in Apartments.com’s $100 million ad campaign tied to the relaunch of the site. Apartments.com released multiple teasers well before the game. In its second teaser on Jan. 29, George Washington shows off his new teeth and asks Lil’ Wayne what he should do with the wooden ones.
Agency: RPA
Audi (Volkswagen)
Buy: A 60-second spot in the first quarter
Creative: Audi released the ad, called “The Commander,” on Feb. 3, the Wednesday before the game. David Bowie’s “Starman” plays as the astronaut drives an all-new Audi R8 V10 plus, conjuring memories of his glory days in space. The vehicle, which Audi calls the “fastest and most powerful Audi of all time,” goes on sale this spring.
Agency: Venables Bell and Partners
Avocados From Mexico
Buy: One 30-second spot is set to run during the first commercial break after kickoff, said Alvaro Luque, president of Avocados From Mexico.
Creative: Avocados From Mexico released its full spot on Feb. 1, the Monday before Super Bowl Sunday, revealing a switch form the 2015 ad’s prehistoric setting to the future. The actor Scott Baio from “Happy Days” makes a cameo. The marketer said in October that it was testing early versions of four different potential approaches, some with celebrities and some without, some related to football more than others, all emphasizing the year-round availability of the product. Its Super Bowl debut in February 2015 depicted showed a prehistoric, football-style draft of plants and animals, in which Mexico selected the avocado and draft commentary was handled by former NFL stars Doug Flutie and Jerry Rice.
Agency: Avocados From Mexico is again working with GSD&M on the spot and with Havas Media on buying and execution.
Axe (Unilever)
Buy: One 30-second spot is set to run during the fourth quarter.
Creative: A 30-second version of the “Find Your Magic” ad the Unilever brand unveiled Jan. 13. “We want to make it clear it doesn’t matter how you define masculinity, which is very different than some of the storytelling we’ve done in the past,” said Matthew McCarthy, senior director of Axe and men’s grooming at Unilever. “There’s not one single-minded, one dimensional idea of masculinity out there,” said Carlo Cavallone, executive creative director of 72andSunny Amsterdam. “We wanted to make it as inclusive as possible. We wanted to give to guys a sense of confidence and liberate them from stereotypical bullshit about what it means to be a man.”
Agency: 72andSunny Amsterdam
Buick (General Motors)
Buy: One 30-second commercial, Buick’s first Super Bowl ad and GM’s return to the game after staying away in 2015.
Creative: The ad is for the all-new Cascada luxury convertible and stars New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and actress/model Emily Ratajkowski. The spot continues the “Experience the New Buick” campaign that launched in 2014 and is aimed at challenging consumers’ false perceptions of the brand.
Agency: Leo Burnett Detroit
Butterfinger (Nestle)
Buy: One 30-second spot during the third quarter
Creative: To be determined, beyond a focus on the recent “Bolder than Bold” brand messaging. Butterfinger first appeared in the 2014 game with a spot for its Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups. It announced its return for Super Bowl 50 with a skydving stunt streamed over Periscope.
Agency: The ad will be created by WPP’s Santo and directed by Armando Bo, co-writer of the movie “Birdman.”
Coca-Cola
Buy: 60-second ad in second quarter
Creative: Coca-Cola, which is a regular Super Bowl advertiser, will do a tie-in with Marvel for this year’s spot. The brand teased the ad by sending a package to members of the media that include Coke cans emblazoned with images of Marvel characters such as the Hulk, Ant-Man, Black Widow and Captain America. The spot will include Coke’s new “Taste the Feeling” tagline. The brand does not plan to release the ad early.
Agency: Wieden & Kennedy
Colgate (Colgate-Palmolive)
Buy: One 30-second ad during the two-minute warning toward the end of the second half
Creative: The ad, called “Save Water,” is an adaptation of a minute-long spot out of Latin America urging consumers to turn off the water while they brush their teeth.
Agency: The original spot was created by Y&R Peru.
Doritos (PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay)
Buy: Only one winning ad from the annual “Crash the Super Bowl” contest will air during the Super Bowl in 2016, according to Doritos. In the past few years, Doritos has aired two “Crash” ads.
Creative: The PepsiCo-owned brand will seek consumer-generated entries for a final time, as it ends the “Crash the Super Bowl” contest after 10 years. The contest — first introduced in 2006 — grew into a Super Bowl advertising mainstay. The winning ads typically relied on the same lowbrow devices — including a plethora of pet tricks and sight gags. But the spots scored well almost every year in ad-ranking services.
Agency: Omnicom Group’s Goodby Silverstein & Partners has long assisted.
Heinz (Kraft Heinz Co.)
Buy: One 30-second spot in the third quarter. Kraft Heinz said on Jan. 19 that it would appear in the game and released its ad (plus an extended version) on Feb. 1, the Monday before the game.
Creative: The ketchup maker’s Super Bowl 50 commercial shows wiener dogs running across a field to reach the condiments they can’t live without, including Heinz ketchup, mustard and a new BBQ sauce. Heinz most recently appeared during the 2014 Super Bowl with a spot from Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago.
Agency: David Miami
Honda
Buy: One 60-second spot in the third quarter
Creative: The auto brand released the ad, featuring singing sheep, on Feb. 1, the Monday before the game. It plugs its all-new 2017 Honda Ridgeline truck after debuting the vehicle at January’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Honda last advertised in the Super Bowl in 2014 with a spot called “Hugfest,” by RPA, that promoted safety using a humorous approach that starred Bruce Willis and Fred Armisen.
Agency: RPA
Hyundai Motor America
Buy: Two 30-second spots, one in the first quarter and one in the second quarter (plus a 60-second ad in the commercial pod immediately before kickoff and another earlier in CBS’s pre-game)
Creative: Hyundai released its ads hours apart on Feb. 1: “The Chase,” depicting a couple of talking bears chasing down a couple, who then use a voice-activated starter to escape in an Elantra, and “Ryanville,” making the most of actor Ryan Reynolds. Hyundai had run Super Bowl spots for seven straight years before sitting out the 2015 game. In 2014, one ad showed Johnny Galecki from “The Big Bang Theory” trying to woo a fellow Elantra driver and another depicted a father repeatedly keeping his growing son from harm before finally teaching him to drive in a Genesis with automatic emergency braking.
Agencies: Innocean Worldwide, Hyundai’s agency of record
Intuit
Buy: One 30-second spot, to be awarded to the small business that won Intuit’s revived contest offering ad time in the Super Bowl: Deagth Wish Coffee Co. in Round Lake, N.Y.
Creative: Intuit said Nov. 3 that the finalists were Death Wish Coffee, San Francisco shorts marketer Chubbies Shorts and a five-and-dime store in East Aurora, N.Y., called Vidler’s 5 & 10. On Jan. 28, it announced the winner: Death Wish, which generated just $6 million in total revenue last year. See Ad Age’s “Anatomy of an Ad” behind-the-scenes video of Death Wish Coffee’s Super Bowl shoot right here. The ad itself is here.
Agency: Intuit is working with RPA out of Santa Monica, Calif.
Kia
Buy: One 60-second spot in the third quarter
Creative: The ad, titled “Walken Closet” will star Christopher Walken and feature the 2016 Optima sedan.
Agency: David & Goliath
LG
Buy: A 60-second spot, the consumer electronics brand’s first Super Bowl ad
Creative: The commercial will promote LG TVs that use OLED technology. The company released a teaser on Jan. 22 revealing star Liam Neeson as “the man from the future.” Its final spot, released to the public on Feb. 1, shows Neeson’s son playing the same man in the present.
Agency: Not yet disclosed. The ad is being produced by Ridley Scott’s production company, RSA Films, and directed by Mr. Scott’s son, Jake, himself a Super Bowl ad veteran.
Marmot (Newell Rubbermaid)
Buy: One 30-second spot, the outdoor clothing brand’s first Super Bowl ad. Three 15-second teasers for the Super Bowl spot began running online on Jan. 26, while a 60-second extended version will be available online after the game. Marmot will also sponsor weather reports on CBS Sports in the week before the event.
Creative: The company’s furry mascot will help a man fall in love with the outdoors. The company, which was founded 45 years ago by two college students, decided to advertise in the Super Bowl now to reach new shoppers and reintroduce the brand to existing customers.
Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners
Mini (BMW)
Buy: One 30-second ad in the third quarter, BMW’s only ad in Super Bowl 50
Creative: Six celebrities appear in the 30-second-spot: tennis star Serena Williams, actor-producer Harvey Keitel, rapper T-Pain, skateboarder Tony Hawk, former baseball star Randy Johnson and retired soccer star Abby Wambach, who told fans in a December ad for Gatorade to “forget me.” Mini, whose last appearance in the Super Bowl came in 2011, released teasers for its 2016 return on Jan. 18 and the ad itself on Feb. 1.
Agency: Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners
“Mobile Strike” (Machine Zone)
Buy: One 30-second spot
Creative: A teaser relased on Feb. 2 features Arnold Schwarzenegger, who’s been starring in ads for the popular game since it launched in November.
Agency: TwoFifteenMcCann
Mtn Dew (PepsiCo)
Buy: One ad, the first Super Bowl spot for Dew since 2000.
Creative: The ad, released widely on Feb. 3, promotes Mtn Dew’s Kickstart line extension with the bizarre character “Puppymonkeybaby.” Just watch it.
Agency: BBDO
NFL
Buy: One 60-second ad
Creative: The ad, called “Super Bowl Babies Choir,” features what the league calls “the biggest collection of Super Bowl Babies: fans born in winning cities approximately nine months after the game.”
Agency: Grey New York
PayPal
Buy: One 45-second commercial in the first quarter, PayPal’s first Super Bowl ad
Creative: The company released its at on Feb. 4, the Thursday before the game. As promised, its uses its costly Super Bowl berth “introduce the world to PayPal’s vision for the future of money.”
Agency: CP&B L.A.
Pepsi-Cola (PepsiCo)
Buy: One in-game ad plus halftime sponsorship
Creative: The ad will lead into the halftime show and celebrate Pepsi’s music heritage and pay homage to iconic songs.
Agency: The Marketing Arm
Persil ProClean (Persil)
Buy: One ad
Creative: Persil will unveil a new ad campaign for its Persil ProClean line, which was introduced in March 2015, during the big game on Feb.7. The spot will feature the brand’s stain-fighting super hero, “The Professional.”
Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day
“Pokemon” (The Pokemon Company International)
Buy: One 30-second spot in the third quarter, the first Super Bowl ad for the brand
Creative: The spot, bought to promote the “Pokemon” games’ 20th anniversary, will encourage consumers to “train on.” Pokemon released a 60-second version of the ad on Jan. 25, the first Super Bowl 50 ad to go public (albeit in extended form).
Agency: Omelet
Quicken Loans
Buy: One 60-second spot during the first half. It’s the first super bowl ad from Quicken Loans.
Creative: The ad, which Quicken released in its entirety online on Jan. 27, promotes Rocket Mortgage, Quicken’s completely online mortgage service. “What if we did for mortgages what the internet did for buying music, plane tickets and shoes?” the commercial opens. It goes on to describe how more homebuyers means more demands for goods to fill those homes, which means more workers employed to make those things, which means more people who can then buy houses themselves, “Isn’t that the power of America itself?” the voiceover concludes. In conjunction with the Super Bowl commercial, Quicken is also running a sweepstakes giving away hundreds of items from and inspired by the commercial. All of the products are made in America, a key theme of the ad, the company noted. It’s part of Quicken’s “Push Button, Get Mortgage” campaign, which debuted last month to introduce Rocket Mortgage.
Agency: Fallon
Skittles (Mars Inc.)
Buy: One ad
Creative: Skittles released its sophomore Super Bowl ad on Feb. 2, the Tuesday before the game. It pictures Steven Tyler testing the singing chops of his Skittles portrait. The brand made its Super Bowl debut in 2015 with an ad called “Settle It” that had an arm wrestling theme. Mars is an official NFL sponsor.
Agency: DDB Chicago
Snickers (Mars Inc.)
Buy: One 30-second commercial
Creative: The ad will continue the “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” theme of recent campaigns. The candy bar’s 2015 Super Bowl ad presented a “Brady Bunch” spoof. “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” launched in the 2010 Super Bowl with Betty White. Snickers released a teaser on Jan. 26 showing a hungry Marilyn Monroe not quite nailing her attempt to reprise her classic “Happy Brithday” performance for Super Bowl 50. On Feb. 3, the Wednesday before Super Bowl Sunday, it released the entire ad, revealing Willem Defoe in the role of hungry Marilyn.
Agency: BBDO New York
SoFi
Buy: The five-year-old marketplace lender has made its first Super Bowl ad buy, a 30-second spot as part of a larger $20 million campaign that will continue through the first half of the year.
Creative: The company is putting some of its 115,000 member customers into the new marketing, including the 30-second Super Bowl spot. That commercial, which plays on a “Great loans for great people” tagline, notes that there’s something special about qualifying for a SoFi loan and stars Brandon Williams, who took out a SoFi personal loan to renovate his condo. It was released on Jan. 26.
Agency: SoFi worked with San Francisco-based Muhtayzik Hoffer on the campaign.
Squarespace
Buy: One 30-second spot, the third consecutive Super Bowl ad for the marketer
Creative: Squarespace said Jan. 25 that its Super Bowl 50 ad would star Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, stars of Comedy Central’s “Key and Peele.” The company’s first Super Bowl ad in 2014 positioned the website-development platform as an oasis of good design in an ugly internet. Its sophomore effort in 2015 starred Jeff Bridges and the soothing sounds available on DreamingWithJeff.com, a website “built with Squarespace.”
Agency: Anomaly
SunTrust
Buy: One 30-second spot, set to appear as the last ad during the two-minute warning break in the game’s fourth quarter, and possibly the final ad of the game.
Creative: The Atlanta-based lender plans to use its Super Bowl debut to make Americans more confident about their finances. The TV spot will be part of an integrated campaign that will continue through February and include a 60-second version that will air online, and then on TV after the Super Bowl. It released its full ad on Feb. 2, the Tuesday before Super Bowl Sunday.
Agency: SunTrust worked with StrawberryFrog on the commercial; Dante Ariola directed.
Taco Bell (Yum Brands)
Buy: One 30-second ad in the first quarter of the game, its first Super Bowl commercial since 2013.
Creative: To be determined. Taco Bell plans to promote a new product, but announced its intentions on Jan. 7 with a press release it redacted itself.
Agency: Deutsch L.A.
T-Mobile
Buy: Two 30-second spots, the same as in 2015
Creative: T-Mobile premiered one ad starring Drake on NBC’s “Today” on Feb. 2. It plans to hold the other back until it airs in the CBS broadcast of the game.
Agency: Publicis Seattle
Toyota
Buy: A 90-second spot to run during the commercial break at the first half’s two-minute warning
Creative: To be determined. Toyota will promote its Prius hybrid in the Super Bowl for the first time since 2005.
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Los Angeles.
TurboTax (Intuit)
Buy: One 30-second spot
Creative: To be determined. TurboTax is returning to the Super Bowl as part of a broad campaign — “It doesn’t take a genius to do your taxes” — to erase consumers’ self doubt when doing their own taxes. It is TurboTax’s third consecutive appearance in the big game.
Agency: Wieden & Kennedy
Walt Disney Studios (Walt Disney Co.)
Buy: To be determined
Creative: Disney used Super Bowl XLIX to promote “Tomorrowland,” starring George Clooney. Its 2016 release slate includes “Captain America: Civil War,” “Jungle Book” and “Star Wars” spinoff “Rogue One.” Disney said Feb. 3 that “Jungle Book,” at the least, will get a Super Bowl ad.
Agency: Internal
WeatherTech
Buy: One 30-second spot that will air in the first-half of the game.
Creative: WeatherTech will once again take to the Super Bowl with its “made in America” message with a commercial titled “Resources.” In a teaser released on Jan. 28, the company poses the question, “what is the impact of manufacturing on America?” The answer, they promise, will come during the big game. It actually came on Feb. 4, the Thursday before the big game, when WeatherTech posted its ad online. Like its 2015 Super Bowl ad, “Resources” features actual WeatherTech employees and its facilities. This is the third consecutive trip to the Super Bowl for the car floor mat marketer.
Agency: Pinnacle Advertising in Schaumburg, Ill.
Wix.com
Buy: One 30-second spot, the web development company’s sophomore go in the Super Bowl
Creative: The ad pitches the company’s software platform to design, manager and grow small businesses’ online presence. But it does it using characters from DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming “Kung-Fu Panda 3.” The spot, which was released on Feb. 3, finds the characters trying to boost publicity for Mr. Ping’s Noodles, a restaurant featured in the movie, via TV ads in the vein of some famous real-life examples (before realizing Wix.com is a better solution). The company’s 2015 Super Bowl debut starred former NFL stars trying their hands at new businesses.
Agency: DreamWorks Animation
Source: AdAge February 03, 2016
Super Bowl 50 Complete Ad Chart: Who's Buying Commercials in the Big Game
This year the big and the new dominate the ad…
