Super Bowl Commercials 2016: Expectations and Most Hyped Movie Trailers

It must be the buildup for the 2016 Super Bowl and the ads surrounding the big game, because Super Bowl commercials now have their own commercials for their commercials.

No joke—the Super Bowl ad process has gone from dropping teaser trailers for commercials to straight up filming a commercial to promote an upcoming commercial.

It's like the Inception of advertising's biggest weekend. Or somebody hired Xzibit to put a commercial within a commercial.

Bud Light got the trend started this year with a preview commercial for its Super Bowl campaign featuring Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen:

Shock Top did the same thing with T.J. Miller:

Others have gone the traditional route, of course, by simply dropping a commercial online that will also air during the Super Bowl.

The Pokemon franchise got out ahead of the pack by doing this with an ad that celebrates its 20th anniversary:

Continuing the trend of innovation, Doritos will once again allow viewers to decide which ad makes an appearance during the Super Bowl. Observers can vote on which one will win at Doritos.com.

The new innovations and techniques for the biggest moment of the year mean rising costs. According to Advertising Age's Bradley Johnson, this year will mark the most expensive batch of advertising yet.

"Ad spending for commercials during the game on Feb. 7's Super Bowl 50 broadcast on CBS will total a record $377 million, according to Ad Age Datacenter's estimate. That's more than was spent on the Super Bowl in the 1960s, '70s and '80s combined ($299 million)."

Don't expect Hollywood to be far behind, folks.

While there's isn't anything concrete yet, as Hollywood tends to be pretty secretive about its plans when it comes to ads, there are plenty of expectations for major trailers.

Though Sony didn't purchase any ad space this year, Jeff Sneider of the Wrap combined the ad space companies have bought over the past three years with the upcoming movie slate to outline a few trailers fans might want to expect.

Among them, Sneider mentions Captain America: Civil War after last year's epic Captain America: The Winter Soldier trailer. He also expects one might see a Jason Bourne sequel trailer as well as one for the popular video game Warcraft, plus one for Deadpool, which opens the following weekend.

Sneider also expects Warner Bros. to take the initiative and drop another Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer:

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Warner Bros. sat out the Super Bowl last year, and for good reason — they had a weak slate. However, the studio is back with a vengeance in 2016, and its crown jewel is this superhero extravaganza, which will lead directly into “Justice League.” Excitement is through the roof (an early Reddit review called it the best comic book movie since “The Dark Knight”) and the late-March release date means it beats “Captain America: Civil War” to the proverbial punch. But the studio could really get tongues wagging with a killer spot during the Big Game.

"

Perhaps most noteworthy, though, is the mention of Independence Day: Resurgence after the original posted a dynamite ad the first time.

The rumblings and rumors will only pick up as the big day nears. Hollywood isn't going to go out of its way to tease trailers when they wind up doing the talking for themselves.

No matter who bought what ad space and why, it's clear the owners of most slots continue to up the bar when it comes to building anticipation. There is no better event to promote oneself than the Super Bowl, hence the $160,000 fee for one second of advertising, per Johnson, and the flurry of current action ahead of the big day.

This is just the beginning of the buildup, too. With innovation marking the early steps of the journey, the ensuing week and change might match the final ads themselves in terms of expectation and hype.