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Super Bowl Commercials 2021: Updated Ad Info, Prop Bets and Movie Trailer Debuts
February 3, 2021
This Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face off in Super Bowl LV. While the game is the pinnacle of the season for NFL fans, the Super Bowl has become more than just a football contest. The Super Bowl has become a global phenomenon beloved by NFL diehards and non-football fans alike.
One reason the Super Bowl has become an iconic event for more general entertainment fans is its seemingly endless parade of creative and innovative commercials. Often humorous, sometimes touching and always expensive, Super Bowl ads have become an attraction all their own.
According to Rick Suter of USA Today, a 30-second spot during the CBS broadcast of Super Bowl LV has cost advertisers nearly $5.6 million. Companies usually aren't going to skimp on production costs for airtime that expensive—which is precisely why celebrities often pop up during commercial breaks on Super Bowl Sunday.
This year, an advertisement for Scotts and Miracle-Gro will feature John Travolta, his daughter Ella, Martha Stewart and Carl Weathers, among others. An Uber Eats commercial will feature Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as their iconic Wayne's World characters. General Motors will run a commercial featuring Will Ferrell that was teased earlier this month:
Suter examined many of the already-announced advertisements, which include ones from Michelob, Pringles, Tide and Chipotle.
As with just about everything else Super Bowl-related, fans can bet on the commercials of Super Bowl LV.
A few intriguing prop bets from BetOnline.ag include the following:
How Many Commercials Will Have a Dog in it? (Over/Under 4.5)
How Many Commercials Will Feature a Person Wearing a Mask (Over/Under 2.5)
First Anheuser-Busch Brand Commercial to Run
Super Bowl Sunday also often provides a home for movie trailers, with many making their debut during the broadcast. However, the coronavirus pandemic has slowed the theater industry, and movie studios aren't putting as much effort into advertising films.
"The number of 30-second TV ads that studios aired on top networks between Dec. 28 and Jan. 3 was down 82 percent from the same period last year, according to Kantar, a tracker of ad spending," Rebecca Rubin of Variety wrote. "That trend could continue until cinemas reopen and people feel comfortable returning to the movies."
According to Anthony D'Alessandro of Deadline, Disney will have two-to-four trailers, but streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max and Apple TV are not expected to run ads.
Per D'Alessandro, Universal will also run an ad for the upcoming M. Night Shyamalan movie Old.
Of course, the Super Bowl is always an event full of surprises, so it won't be a total shock if a few other trailers pop into the mix this Sunday. With anticipated films like Dune, Top Gun: Maverick, Space Jam: A New Legacy and The Suicide Squad on the horizon, it would probably be a bigger surprise if they didn't.