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

American brand names return to tradition, celeb and cheer

OpenAI and Perplexity capitalize on the Super Bowl to promote AI

By Dawn Chmielewski

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Anheuser-Busch InBev is restoring its iconic workhorse Clydesdales for a Super Bowl advertisement that the brewing business says commemorates the "grit and determination" of the American spirit.

The Budweiser commercial marks a return to custom, after a dreadful social networks promotion for its Bud Light brand in 2023 featuring transgender influencer, Dylan Mulvaney, triggered require a boycott.

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

The return to safe, familiar and sentimental ground represents a trend amongst some marketers for this year ´ s Super Bowl LIX, a rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans. Brands are expected to lean on humor, celebrity and warm references to America ´ s heartland, reflective of the cultural zeitgeist.

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

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

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

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

OpenAI, the business behind ChatGPT, is expected to air its very first 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 reward for users.atw.hu asking questions throughout the game.

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

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

This year ´ s video game will have less vehicle commercials than in previous years. Stellantis is the only automaker to reveal a Super Bowl ad, in which star Glen Powell delivers 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 beginner venture capital-backed Liquid Death, pipewiki.org the canned water brand name that purchased its first Big Game advertisement to promote its Killer Cola and Cherry Obituary.

So far, the most popular Super Bowl advertisement is the winner of Doritos ´ "Crash the Super Bowl" contest, depicting an alien abduction.

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