Super Bowl commercials are sometimes remembered far better than the big game itself. Everyone recalls the introduction of Apple’s Macintosh computer in 1984 and the Budweiser Whassup? guys, for example. Iconic ads like these start conversations and spark trends nationwide.
What’s coming this year, when the Los Angeles Rams take on the New England Patriots on Feb. 3? AdAge has a preview of companies that have bought ad space, including Walt Disney, dating app Bumble and home security system SimpliSafe. Here’s what we’ve seen of the big ads so far. We’ll add to this story often as news develops.
Skittles is making a musical
Will the Skittles ad-musical be pawsome, or a catastrophe?
Skittles
Last year, Skittles candy went off the grid(iron) by playing its big Super Bowl ad for only one person. This year, the brand’s showing its ad to a slightly larger, but still very limited audience. Michael C. Hall is starring in a Skittles commercial presented as a Broadway musical, which will really play to a live audience in New York while the game is being played. According to theater magazine Playbill, the show will take a “self-reflective look” at consumerism and brand advertising. Ticket proceeds will be donated to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and Skittles will match the donation.
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Mr. Peanut and A-Rod
Retired Yankee Alex Rodriguez goes a bit nutty in a Planters ad where he co-stars with monocle- and top hat-wearing mascot Mr. Peanut. The teaser shows Mr. Peanut tossing nuts at his new buddy, who attempts to catch them in his mouth. A-Rod might need to go back to spring training to practice up on his new skill.
Amazon drafts astronauts, Harrison Ford
A set of mysterious teasers hints at Amazon’s Beta Testing Program for celebrities. A post Amazon’s Alexa blog says the beta program is a top-secret division of Amazon that “employs celebrities to test Alexa-enabled technologies such as sub-aquatic audio waveform resonance, interspecies language translation, and voice-controlled body de-stressors.”
Backstreet Boys meet Chance the Rapper
In two short teasers for a Doritos ad, 1990s boy banders The Backstreet Boys seem to be auditioning Chance the Rapper for a role in their band, but he’s just not getting that patented Backstreet choreography down.
Christina Applegate and M&Ms
Christina Applegate is trying to get into her car in a parking lot, but someone small seems to keep locking her out. Could it be one of those pesky candies, the M&Ms?
Bublé vs Bubly
Singer Michael Bublé is apparently irritated that the flavored water Bubly almost, but not quite, has copied his name. In this clip, he’s caught in a convenience store marking up the cans.
Big Lebowski return
It seems like The Dude (Jeff Bridges) from The Big Lebowski, with his love for bowling and White Russians, would roll his eyes at rich Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) from Sex and the City. But in commercials, anything can happen. In an ad for Stella Artois beer, Parker decides to order a Stella instead of her traditional cosmo, and Bridges’ Dude rejects his beloved White Russian for a beer as well. Some fans had hoped Bridges’ enigmatic tweet meant a Big Lebowski sequel was coming, but at least The Dude abides in an ad.
Mermaids like seltzer
Move over, Aquaman. Mermaids Bonnie and Vivian star in an underwater Big Game ad for Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer in which they pitch their drink, Shark Tank-style, to a posse of real sharks.
Color my world
Not sure exactly what kind of Super Bowl ad T-Mobile is ringing up, but according to a tweet from John Legere, the company’s US CEO, it’s coming, and it seems likely to involve the color magenta. That light purplish-red color is to the company what blue is to Tiffany, or brown to UPS.
Avocados have gone to the dogs
In a teaser for an ad for avocados from Mexico, three pups face a doggone ruff time trying to bark out the product’s jingle. Even acclaimed Broadway songstress Kristin Chenoweth can’t get them in tune.
Budweiser feels the wind
Few companies have as many memorable Super Bowl ads as Budweiser. This year, the company is hyping its use of wind power, thanks to Bob Dylan’s Blowing in the Wind and a Dalmatian whose ears fly in the breeze as the famous Clydesdales trot past a field dotted with wind turbines.
The Super Bowl airs on Feb. 3 on CBS, CNET’s parent company.
This post first published on Jan. 25 and is updated often as new ads come in.
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