Super Bowl Commercials 2018: Final Expectations for Top Ads, Movie Trailers

Commercials and movie trailers are two of the biggest reasons the Super Bowl is now a global event. 

For many, the football itself is the bonus. Ads, movie trailers and halftime performances coming from a guy like Justin Timberlake are a bigger attraction than a showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots, though the game itself could easily be a classic. 

The hundreds of millions (literally) going into the details surrounding the actual football is interesting to look at ahead of time, as companies go all-out in what is now perhaps the single most important event of the year from an advertising perspective. 

2018 Super Bowl

Date: Sunday, Feb. 4

Location: U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Kickoff Time: 6:30 p.m. ET

TV: NBC

Odds: Patriots minus-4.5, Over/Under 48

Funnily enough, it's getting harder and harder to tell the difference between a Super Bowl commercial and an actual movie trailer out of Hollywood. 

Commercials keep going more toward the Hollywood route, either filming preview trailers to build hype or even releasing them early outright—if not some combination of both. 

And why not? According to Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch, 30 seconds of screen time for a company runs at an asking price of about $5 million. According to Ad Age, 52 years of Super Bowl commercials comes in at a total spending price tag of $5.4 billion so far. Keep in mind that back in 1966 during the first Super Bowl, a 30-second spot cost all of $37,500, per superbowl-ads.com.

The modern upshot for companies here is the chance to have the ad live on for much longer than those 30 seconds, though, if it can encourage viewers to share it online over various forms of social media.

It's a much more lucrative upside for a company than ever before, which is why someone like Amazon is going all-out with the Alexa spot this year: 

Funny, shareable content like this makes the initial $5 million an infantile number and explains why commercials tell a Hollywood-esque story these days. 

Look at a documentary-style offering from Febreze, which doesn't need much of an explanation: 

Even a meme-based ad from Mountain Dew and Doritos boasts gigantic production values and gigantic names thanks to appearances from Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman: 

Veterans of the Super Bowl commercials game know what to expect here, with heavyweights like Budweiser, M&M's and others coming up big with memorable offerings meant to compete with what has become a major advertising arm's race. 

Which isn't to suggest Hollywood itself has fallen behind. 

Plenty of major movie trailers will make an appearance during the game. For example, 20th Century Fox has confirmed an offering for the Jennifer Lawrence-led Red Sparrow and dropped a teaser: 

The unexpected doesn't stop there. 

According to Deadline's Anthony D'Alessandro, Netflix will signal some sort of acquisition of Paramount/Bad Robot by releasing a Super Bowl trailer for God Particle, a sequel to Cloverfield. 

Sprinkling in a gigantic announcement alongside a typical movie trailer during the Super Bowl is one way to up the stakes. 

Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, has signaled his new epic named Skyscraper will have an ad during the game: 

On the topic of heroics, viewers can expect a Black Panther trailer after a cameo in a Lexus Super Bowl ad: 

From the sounds of D'Alessandro's report, Disney remains as tight-lipped as ever, though observers will understandably keep hoping for something from the anticipated Solo: A Star Wars Story. Pixar’s The Incredibles 2 is another oft-wished-for trailer fans will keep hoping for Sunday. 

Given the efforts of the commercials and movie trailers combined, it's hard to imagine observers come away disappointed either way. There's too much at stake and plenty in the way of innovation and surprises ahead for what is sure to be the best offering in both regards yet—until next year. 

Stats courtesy of NFL.com. Odds according to OddsShark.