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Budweiser appears to be taking a cue from Ken. The beer brand is putting its famous Clydesdales front and center for this year’s Super Bowl as it continues its pivot back to more masculine themes.
After courting disaster with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, the former King of Beers (ABEV) (BUD) heard Barbie’s beau’s lament: manliness is nothing without horses. And so, the Clydesdales are back.
The Super Bowl is expected to attract more than 200M adult viewers in the U.S., more than half of the population, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. It’s a unique opportunity to reach mass numbers but may not pay off for all companies.
CBS (NASDAQ:PARA) is charging an estimated $7M for a 30-second spot, according to AdAge, which compares to an average unit cost of $882,079 for Sunday Night Football.
That appears to be a bit too salty for the big three Detroit carmakers (NYSE:GM) (F) (STLA), which won’t be airing commercials this year. GM and Stellantis previously touted electric vehicles during the game.
General Motors (GM) in particular spent each of the past four Super Bowls promoting its EVs. But in GM’s earnings report on January 30, Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra noted that “the pace of EV growth has slowed, which has created some uncertainty.”
That’s in part because high prices for EVs have turned off some consumers, and it is unlikely that advertising will change the impact persistent inflation has had on American wallets.
More affordable consumer goods, however, are taking advantage of the opportunity to reach 60% of American adults when the game airs on February 11.
The other kind of football star is showing up for Michelob Ultra (ABEV) (BUD). Lionel Messi, considered by many to be the best soccer player ever, makes his Super Bowl debut in a teaser that shows his flirtatious interaction with a bartender who runs out of the brew on draft.
Also out of stock? Doritos Dinamita (PEP). Jenna Ortega, the young star of Netflix’s (NFLX) wildly popular series, Wednesday, goes to a bodega only to discover there are none left. What happens next will be revealed at the game.
As noted above, Budweiser’s roping in its Clydesdale horses in a “classic Budweiser storyline with nods to past Super Bowl spots, elements of nostalgia and, of course, crisp and refreshing Budweiser.” The horses are returning after making a very brief appearance in last year’s commercial.
The Hershey Company (HSY) teased “big changes” coming for Reese’s, while actor Chris Pratt appears to be in a face-off with “Mr. P,” the Pringles (K) “mascot.” Both the actor and the character sport soup-strainer mustaches.
And then there is Nerds Gummy Clusters, by the privately-owned Ferrero Group, which apparently fuel singer Addison Rae who acts as a dance instructor teaching a choreography routine to What a Feeling, the Flashdance song, to a mystery dancer.
Other spots include:
- Actress Helen Mirren apparently loves American football and Uber Eats in an ad for Uber (UBER).
- Comedian Kate McKinnon joins a cat for a Hellman’s (UL) ad.
- A can of Coors Light (TAP) may be preparing to take a train.
- The mother of making miracle millionaires out of thin air Kris Kardashian, donning a bellhop-style red jacket with golden buttons, stacks Oreos (MDLZ) and twists one open, saying she has to warn the kids of… wait and see.
- Volkswagen (OTCPK:VWAGY) goes old school, talking about the introduction of the Beetle in the U.S. and how ill received the car was at the time.