Advertisers pay up to $8 million for a 30-second Super Bowl spot

American brand names return to custom, star and cheer

OpenAI and Perplexity profit from the Super Bowl to promote AI

By Dawn Chmielewski

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Anheuser-Busch InBev is reviving its renowned workhorse Clydesdales for a Super Bowl ad that the developing business states celebrates the "grit and determination" of the American spirit.

The Budweiser industrial marks a go back to custom, after a dreadful social networks promo for its Bud Light brand in 2023 including transgender influencer, Dylan Mulvaney, triggered calls for a boycott.

"We ´ re certainly seeing Budweiser play it safe this year," said Charles R. Taylor, a marketing teacher at Villanova ´ s School of Business and author of a book about Super Bowl ads. "Everybody likes the Clydesdales."

The go back to safe, familiar and nostalgic ground represents a pattern amongst some advertisers for this year ´ s Super Bowl LIX, a rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans. Brands are to lean on humor, celeb and warm references to America ´ s heartland, reflective of the cultural zeitgeist.

For the very first time, OpenAI and Perplexity will seek to profit from the biggest televised occasion of the year, bringing synthetic intelligence into the homes of millions of Americans.

"We ´ re all in this excellent, pleased location, and wish to be entertained," said Gartner analyst Nicole Denman Greene. "So, to place your brand because minute of fandom ... you have to provide innovative that is resonant with that audience."

Super Bowl marketers are flashing major star power, with an estimated two-thirds of the commercials featuring celebs.

Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal reenact their famous deli scene from the 1989 romantic comedy "When Harry Met Sally," in a commercial for Hellmann ´ s mayonnaise that likewise includes a quick appearance from "Euphoria ´ s "Sydney Sweeney. Willem Dafoe and Catherine O ´ Hara double-up on the pickleball court to hustle opponents out of their Michelob Ultra beers. Eugene Levy, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Post Malone, Vin Diesel and Kermit the Frog likewise appear in the 30-second areas.

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is expected to air its very first commercial during the Super Bowl, bringing the race for expert system supremacy to America ´ s bars and living spaces. Meanwhile Perplexity AI is hosting a Super Bowl sweepstakes that offers a $1 million prize for asking concerns during the game.

Greene said AI business are seizing on the Super Bowl ´ s reach to deal with consumer anxiety about the fast-evolving technology.

"All of the advertisements I have actually seen-- and I can't wait to see all of the creative-- it's more about making people see how they can be more productive, and how their lives could be better," said Greene. "I don't understand if that's going to get rid of the fear, because, as individuals find out more about the capabilities, we're seeing in the data, that they get less certain."

This year ´ s game will have less cars and truck commercials than in previous years. Stellantis is the only car manufacturer to announce a Super Bowl advertisement, in which star Glen Powell provides a humorously macho twist on the familiar "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" fairy tale.

Ads hawking beers and snacks return. They will share screen time with newcomer venture capital-backed Liquid Death, the canned water brand name that bought its very first Big Game ad to promote its Killer Cola and Cherry Obituary.

Up until now, disgaeawiki.info the most popular Super Bowl ad is the winner of Doritos ´ "Crash the Super Bowl" contest, depicting an alien abduction.

"It ´ s off the scale on amusing, on curiosity," said Sean Muller, creator and president of TV marketing measurement company iSpot.TV. "People like the advertisement." (Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; modifying by Ken Li and Diane Craft)