As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl 55 in Tampa Bay, Florida, a different kind of action took place off the field.
Many major brands sought to relieve the tension of the game — and the year — with lighthearted commercials stuffed with celebrities and nostalgic characters.
Cadillac updated the film “Edward Scissorhands,” M&M’s enlisted Dan Levy to show how a bag of M&M’s given as an apology can help people come together. And Will Ferrell teamed with GM — and Awkwafina and Kenan Thompson — on a madcap cross-country dash to promote electric vehicles.
Cadillac went with an update to the classic film “Edward Scissorhands,” with Timothee Chalamet as the title character's son using the Cadillac Lyriq's hands-free “Super Cruise” technology.
M&M's enlisted Dan Levy to show how a bag of M&M's given as an apology can help people come together.
GM teamed up with Will Ferrell, Awkwafina and Kenan Thompson on a madcap dash to Scandanavia to promote electric vehicles.
With so many light spots, advertisers that try a different approach risk polarizing the audience — but are more likely to stand out.
Jeep will air a two-minute ad in the second half of the game starring Bruce Springsteen urging people to find common ground.
“There's so much going on in this country, advertisers want to be a little more cautious and a little more safe around what they put out,” said Vann Graves, director of the Brandcenter at Virginia Commonwealth University. “The Super Bowl is a respite in many ways of what's been going on.”
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Additional star-studded ads:
T-Mobile: Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton
Uber Eats: Cardi B and "Wayne's World" characters (Mike Myers as Wayne Campbell and Dana Carvey as Garth Algar)
Fiverr: Four Seasons Total Landscaping building
Rocket Mortgage: Tracy Morgan, Dave Bautista and Liza Koshy
DoorDash: Sesame Street characters and Daveed Diggs
State Farm: Drake, Paul Rudd, Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers
Guinness: Joe Montana
Tide: Jason Alexander
Logitech: Lil Nas X
Cheetos: Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher and Shaggy
Doritos: Matthew McConaughey
Frito-Lay: Marshawn Lynch, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Terry Bradshaw, Jerome Bettis and Deion Sanders
Klarna: Maya Rudolph
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
