Super Bowl Commercials 2018: Expectations, Rumors and Most-Hyped Movie Trailers
January 24, 2018
Super Bowl LII will be highlighted by a clash between two large-market teams in the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, which bodes well for the companies investing in Super Bowl ads this year.
Among the companies and products in line to make a big splash on Super Sunday are Coca-Cola, Budweiser, M&M's, Pringles, Stella Artois, Squarespace, Doritos and Mountain Dew.
Per Brian Steinberg of Variety, Paramount and Universal have confirmed they will air movie trailers as well, but they declined to reveal which movies will receive the trailer treatment.
According to SuperBowl-Commercials.org, there will be some surprising absences in the commercial realm this year, including Snickers, Wonderful Pistachios and Wix.com.
Price likely has plenty to do with those advertisers dropping out since a 30-second ad will cost an average of more than $5 million to run, per Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated.
Although the Super Bowl commercial landscape will have a slightly different look in 2018 than in past years, there is no shortage of highly anticipated spots.
With the big game approaching, here is a look at trailers and teasers for a few of the commercials that have a chance to steal the show on Feb. 4.
Mountain Dew and Doritos
Mountain Dew and Doritos are known for their memorable Super Bowl commercials individually, which is why there is plenty of excitement surrounding their joint ad for Super Bowl LII.
As seen in the following teaser, the commercial will feature actors Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman:
Dinklage—who is best known for his role in Game of Thrones—represents Doritos Blaze in the spot, while the silky smooth-voiced Freeman is carrying the flag for Mountain Dew Ice.
The teaser gives little away other than the notion that Dinklage and Freeman are at odds over what is the superior product.
Since PepsiCo owns both Mountain Dew and Doritos, it is likely that Dinklage and Freeman will find some common ground in the full-length commercial.
In terms of creativity and humor, Mountain Dew and Doritos are consistently in the running for the best Super Bowl commercial on a yearly basis, and the early indication is that they will be in the mix once again in 2018.
M&M's
With the teaser for its 2018 Super Bowl ad, M&M's managed to create intrigue without giving much away regarding what the commercial will entail.
The teaser features four news journalists, with Sam Rubin of KTLA 5 in Los Angeles waxing poetic about the M&M's spot he had just witnessed:
Near the end of the teaser, Shawn Edwards of Fox TV in Kansas City tries to calm Rubin down by telling him he was simply watching an M&M's commercial rather than a life-changing piece of cinema.
M&M's could go in many different directions based on the trailer, but the odds are in favor of it being an entertaining and laugh-inducing spot based on the brand's track record.
If the iconic yellow and red M&M's characters make an appearance as well, history suggests M&M's will knock its ad out of the park.
Stella Artois
While humor can go a long way toward making a successful Super Bowl ad, the content and importance of the message is arguably even more important.
That is the case in a Stella Artois commercial featuring actor Matt Damon:
In the ad, Stella Artois teams with Water.org in an effort to bring clean, fresh drinking water to parts of the world in dire need of it.
Damon tells the viewing audience that by purchasing a limited edition Stella Artois chalice, they can contribute to bringing five years of clean water to people in a developing part of the world.
The Super Bowl is the biggest platform possible for companies to spread the word, and Stella Artois deserves credit for supporting a great cause with its commercial.