Taylor Swift's new Sunday TV special, also known as Super Bowl LVIII, broadcast live from Las Vegas on CBS and Paramount+, included an accompanying football game, a musical production number and a series of comedy sketches disguised as commercials , and they said variety was dead!
However, I have been asked to talk here only about the advertisements, which are granted a newsworthiness rarely enjoyed elsewhere on television, based entirely on their proximity to this particular event, the big money involved, and the big stars who get a lot of money for a day's work, anyway. Major American celebrities (from Audrey Hepburn and Marlon Brando to Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts) who wouldn't dream of appearing in a national television commercial have been sneaking overseas for years to get that check, but the Super Bowl provides some amount of cache and cover: it's an event! (Still, it could be noted that most of them are not superstars; many are television people, but no less familiar or useful for that reason.) Sports stars (current and retired), comfortable with endorsements, seem happy to play along.
Polls have suggested that about a quarter of Super Bowl viewers come primarily to watch the commercials. I admit that I find them more interesting than the game, although I also admit that this was a particularly interesting game; Still, it's hard to imagine sitting down to watch four hours of football just to see the ads when the most popular ones are already on the Internet, and those that aren't yet, will be. I mean, it feels like a bad use of time. That said, the frequency of cuts could sometimes make one feel like the game was cutting into commercials. (That there are those who come only for the halftime show is obvious, but for that you can arrive late and leave early). People are fun.
Many of these campaigns, whether teasers or full ads, or longer ads than would appear in the actual broadcast, or without some tag or punchline withheld until Sunday, had been running online for more than a week; Network morning shows offered them “exclusive” premieres and, under the guise of “news,” offered free advertising—something that, yes, print media is also happy to offer.
After an extremely vague tease with Tony Hale, an ad starring Beyoncé premiered in the third quarter of the game, with the singer attempting to “break Verizon” (playing the saxophone, opening a lemonade stand in the name of “Beyoncé of the USA”). ”, and go to space. A second broadcast suggested new music was coming, which was later confirmed via Instagram. My conclusion was that I would like to see her do more comedy.
It makes sense that investment has been overwhelmingly focused on comedy: funny ads are more likely to be remembered, commented on and reposted, and if brevity is the lifeblood of wit, as it certainly is of the modern attention span, Repetition is the soul of advertising.
Here is an incomplete description of the humorous commercials broadcast during the game.
LL Cool J driving a beer can train for Coors Light. Martha Stewart, Snoop Dogg and Willie Nelson for BIC Lighters, because marijuana. Anthony Hopkins delivers a dramatic soliloquy (“To act is to deceive, and to deceive you must forget yourself”) before putting on the head of Wrex the Dragon, mascot of the Wrexham football club (the other football, the one they play in everywhere ) in an ad for Stok Cold Brew Coffee. Ken Jeong, out of cryogenic suspension, for Popeyes.
Chris Pratt with a handlebar mustache for Pringles. Eric Andre was paired with a creepy little plastic figure, Dr. Umstick, for the Drumstick ice cream cone (strange spot of the day). Aubrey Plaza, who describes himself as “America's sweetheart,” appears impassive through a series of stressful or dramatic situations (children's party, stuck elevator). , alien abduction, professional wrestling, riding a dragon) for Mountain Dew. Zac Braff and Donald Faison return to sing and dance for T-mobile, now accompanied by Jason Momoa. Dan Levy and Heidi Gardner investigate the neighborhood on the ground for Homes.com. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez returned for Dunkin Donuts, with Matt Damon; They're legitimately big stars, but they also like Dunkin Donuts, so, you know, so-so. The “Suits” actors appeared in a couple of ads (elf Cosmetics and T-mobile), because that's where we are now.
An Oreo spot in which important decisions are made over time based on whether the “cream” (hydrogenated vegetable oil, high fructose corn syrup, soy lecithin, and vanillin, if you're interested) ends up on the left or the right. right when the cookies are twisted. To avoid controversy, M&M's ran an ad for Peanut Butter M&M's that used diamonds formed from compressed peanut butter, “polished with the sighs of those who almost won a Super Bowl, and Scarlett Johansson,” to make The Almost Champions Ring of Comfort. Especially wonderful is Kate McKinnon in an ad for Hellman's Mayonnaise, in which she believes her cat can talk about her after she takes her “meow” for “mayonnaise”; the cat becomes famous, addresses world leaders, leaves and abandons Pete Davidson.
The Uber Eats ad, based on the idea that new information eliminated old information, featured Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer, Posh and Becks, Jelly Roll and Usher, who didn't remember he was performing the halftime show. Usher also made a cameo at the end of Christopher Walken's charming BMW commercial, in which people imitated his way of talking as the day went by. The tolerant exasperation of his reactions was a highlight of my excessive participation in these commercials.
Naturally, there were some non-comedic advertisements among them. The beautiful Budweiser Clydesdales delivered beer in the snow. A girl skated on a frozen pond while her housebound grandfather looked through a window at a Kia spot. Dove came out to bat for girls in track and field. The “Jesus, He Understands Us” campaign, which debuted last year, returned with a pair of stylish, photo-based, ecumenical ads on the theme of loving your neighbor—that is, anyone. And Mark Wahlberg promoted Hallow, a Christian/Catholic prayer app.
What can we say about this year's ads that says something about the rest of us? Does the fact that many are in favor of beer, junk food, gambling and television itself suggest a society desperate to anesthetize itself in a world on fire? (Some might argue that the Super Bowl itself represents a misdirection of human energy, a distraction from what really matters; not that you'll catch me saying that.)
Special musical guest Travis Kelce performed “Viva Las Vegas” after the game, while Swift looked on. He previously gained 93 yards on nine receptions, also while she watched.
