Ben De Klerk and Robert Bamford.
About a week ago, we received a tantalizing email titled “Super Bowl 2025.” We’d be lying if it hadn’t crossed our minds that maybe we’d accidentally clicked on some email and won an all-expenses-paid Publicis competition to The Big Easy.
We hadn’t. Instead, we’d won an even bigger prize—or at least that's what Mandie told us: an AdNews Super Bowl Op-Ed.
On the bright side, spending five hours of company time watching some of the world’s most talked-about commercials from the last few years isn’t the worst way to spend an afternoon.
But rather than do what everyone but Andy Flemming does and look at the slew of ads that’ve already dropped, we thought we’d dissect what Super Bowl ads have predominantly become: celebrity-driven entertainment.
Since the Super Bowl’s humble beginnings in 1967, its ads have evolved in step with humanity’s fame-obsessed minds. Cinematic celebrity cameos drip with self-awareness and attempt to tickle the same part of our brains as every other entertainment platform. In their wake, colleagues will eagerly catch up on Monday, saying things like “Did you see the one with Will Ferrell last night?!”
Is this such a bad thing? For advertising purists, possibly. For those watching along at home, not at all.
After having had a few Toyota ads premier at the AFL Grand Final last year, we decided to pick a few of our favourite Super Bowl car spots from the last few years. Some rely wholeheartedly on celebrity, others on the simplicity of an idea. We then pose the girthy question to ourselves: at the end of the day, do you need a celebrity to stay entertaining?
Let’s start with a few classics that use celebrity in the best kind of way.
Is it the most interesting ad by today's standards? Probably not. But it is a great place to start. It set the bar for combining existing IP with a product—a new frontier that Super Bowl ads would soon colonize completely.
While many companies overshadow their product with a giant pop culture reference, this classic strikes the perfect balance. The celebrity (yes, Darth Vader is a celebrity - we met him at the Brandenburg Gate) serves the proof-point, rather than outshining it.
2011: Chrysler - “Imported From Detroit”
Although we’re not Detroiters, the power of the prose in this spot makes us view the dents and deterioration of one of America's most beaten cities as badges of honor we wished we had the right to wear. A tough city deserves a tough celebrity, and that is exactly why Eminem elevates this spot from a great montage into something more meaningful.
Farmers. God. America. I think we know who they were going after with this one—anyone chewing on a wing, a pizza, a pig in a blanket, or any other delicious yet nutritionally dubious Super Bowl snack. Such is the resonance of Paul Harvey’s speech, paired with the languid and romantic stills from ten different photographers, this spot stands out by opting not to shout when all others are, but to back a message with more emotional gravity. It worked then and, as a reference still popping up in creative reviews everywhere, evidently it still does.
Why use a Boston accent to promote a self-parking feature for a Japanese car? Because they say the word “smart” funny. Yeah, it’s not the strongest insight, but we’ve spent the lahst half an hour doing about as good a job as Jack Nicholson did in the Depahted. Rewatchable. Memorable. Ticks all round.
And now for the celebrity-free ones. Does the lack of a pop culture anchor make for a harder sell?
1997: Nissan Maxima - “Pigeons”
A slightly dated and cheesy execution. But there’s plenty of fun and plenty of charm. And it’s a car ad without too many in-your-face car shots. Would Steve Buscemi have made this better? Not unless Sandler was directing it.
When the older heads around the office romanticise about the simpler days of advertising, this is the spot we imagine they’re thinking of. A simple human truth punctuated with “Next time, let the clutch out easier.” Is there anything else that needs to be said?
Bring back the simple gags. A tight 30-second spot with one punchline and one proof-point. A winning chuckle-worthy execution we can all unfortunately relate to and not a celebrity in sight.
Nothing’s more hilarious than a giant robot starting a family with a prehistoric lizard monster. The whole thing is perfect. If you’re not feeling clucky after watching that, get a heart. Or a Hummer. (Don’t get a Hummer).
2023: RAM - “Premature Electrification”
Who doesn’t love a good euphemism? Especially when men are the ones being laughed at. So what if it’s juvenile—it's a great metaphor that nails the target audience. We love it.
Ultimately, Super Bowl ads are designed to be talked about. They’re designed to entertain us. But an ad that airs during the Super Bowl should enthral us as much as one that airs during Late Night on SBS, regardless of whether or not Arnold Schwarzenegger is playing a real-life Homer Simpson.
For one reason or another, unless it's for the Super Bowl, entertainment is often far down on a marketer’s BAU priority list—at least until they get home and turn on the TV themselves.
Ben de Klerk and Robert Bamford, Creatives at Saatchi & Saatchi Australia