Super Bowl 50 Ads: What Can We Expect this Year?

By Kris Rollins
Super Bowl Ad
Anheuser Busch's Budweiser and Bud Light Beer can be seen on display at a new Wal-Mart store in Chicago, January 24, 2012. REUTERS/JOHN GRESS

Just a little over two weeks until the Super Bowl. Four teams will be playing this weekend to see who will be going all the way to play in Levi Stadium on February 7th. Fans are looking forward to food, fun, and... commercials. Commercials are usually hyped up in advance before the Super Bowl even begins. What are the rumors we are hearing about this year's promotions? Will the ads be better than last year?

Last year, the commercials didn't seem to grab the attention of people. Communicus, an international advertising research firm that studies the field of advertising, has been measuring Super Bowl commercial effectiveness for the past four years. According to them, Super Bowl 49 commercials "was the worst, from a brand performance standpoint, than any we've seen in the four years in which we've been measuring Super Bowl commercial effectiveness."

These results were measured by interviewing the same people over two points in time, and studying the changes in their purchase behavior or intentions related to the Super Bowl commercials they viewed. Communicus says the advertisers that had the entertaining commercials drawing the crowds in didn't seem to affect brand impact. The most remembered commercials were the Budweiser ad with the lost puppy, and the Brady Bunch Snicker's advertisement. As unforgettable as those commercials were, it didn't seem to impact preference or purchase intentions.

There was also the commercial that everyone most likely will agree was the most depressing one of the Super Bowl last year. Nationwide ran their ad in the first half of the game with a kid who is talking about all the life experiences that he'll never get to do... because he died from an accident. This commercial caused such a big uproar on social media, Nationwide made a statement after the game:

"Preventable injuries around the home are the leading cause of childhood deaths in America. Most people don't know that. Nationwide ran an ad during the Super Bowl that started a fierce conversation. The sole purpose of this message was to start a conversation, not sell insurance. We want to build awareness of an issue that is near and dear to all of us-the safety and well being of our children. We knew the ad would spur a variety of reactions. In fact, thousands of people visited MakeSafeHappen.com, a new website to help educate parents and caregivers with information and resources in an effort to make their homes safer and avoid a potential injury or death. Nationwide has been working with experts for more than 60 years to make homes safer. While some did not care for the ad, we hope it served to begin a dialogue to make safe happen for children everywhere."

Last year, a 30 second slot in the Super Bowl sold for 4.5 million dollars. This year, the same slot will go up in price to 5 million. Perhaps they are expecting more viewers for this 50 year anniversary, and prices are reflecting that?

One company who is spending more this year, is Audi. They are paying 10 million- just for the slot alone! The reason is that they will be running their ad for 60 seconds. "The Commander" ad was announced at the NAIAS by the president of Audi of America, Scott Keogh. According to the site superbowlcommercials2016.org, not many details are known about the ad, except that the commercial will "play off a shared message between the brand's 'pursuit of mobility's unfolding horizons and the brave commanders who have explored the final frontier.'"

Other car ads during the Super Bowl will include Acura, Audi, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Buick and Toyota.

Two companies are teaming up this year in their advertising. Dreamworks and Wix.com are doing joint advertisements to announce Kung Fu Panda 3. In the teaser commercials released so far, Po is trying to promote his father's noodle business, and Master Shifu shows him how easy it is with Wix.com.

The other commercials we can expect to see this year are from Doritos, Budweiser, Bud Light, Skittles, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mountain Dew... just to list a few. You can find all the advertisers for the Super Bowl listed at the official site.

I fully expect we will see some kind of heart-tugging commercial with horses and dogs from Budweiser. Doritos has a promotion where you can vote on which commercial should air during the Super Bowl, and get a chance to win tickets to the Super Bowl.

Which commercials are you looking forward to this year? What was your favorite ad last year? Did it impact your buying choices? Leave your thoughts below!

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