Written by / Zhang Ou
Edit/Windsor
Design / Shi Yuchao
Video source/ YouTube brand official release
The exquisite storyline, the appearance of popular stars and the most cutting-edge technology show, the annual "American Spring Festival Gala" football league finals (NFL), which has the highest topical and commercial value in the United States, have been held in Los Angeles at 7:30 a.m. Beijing time on February 14.
Super Bowl viewership hit the 100 million mark for the first time in 2010 and peaked in 2015. In recent years, with the popularity of streaming media platforms, the advantages of traditional cable TV are no longer there, and tv viewers have gradually decreased. Still, the last edition was viewed at 96.4 million, a significant lead in the NBA Finals of the same year at 9.9 million, the Oscars at 23.6 million and the Grammys at 8.8 million, making it undoubtedly the most important event in the minds of Americans.
In addition to the rugby game itself, well-known IP and brands from all walks of life have spent thousands of dollars on advertising, and the halftime show performed by heavy singers on stage is the focus of attention of audiences around the world.
Total Advertising Revenue for the Super Bowl from 2003 to 2021 (in millions of dollars)
Source: statista
Average cost of a 30-second Super Bowl TV commercial from 2002 to 2022 (in millions of dollars)
This year, the average cost of a Super Bowl ad was $6.5 million (30 seconds), up to $7 million. Automotive ad spending has always been the top ad category. Automakers such as GM, BMW, Kia and Hyundai have brought their electric cars and SUVs to Los Angeles as protagonists.
100% "power consumption"
Electrification and carbon neutrality are being actively promoted around the world, and brands such as Audi and Porsche have launched their own pure electric models at the Super Bowl in the past few years. And this year, electric cars have become the most prominent protagonists from cameos.
First of all, the most impressive is undoubtedly the kia car advertisement. The cute robot dog wants to find a home, and when it sees a man unplug the 2022 EV6 GT series AWD from the street charger and drive away, the robot dog follows him to the street, but finally catches up with him and faints next to the car due to running out of power.
The ending is a happy ending where the man fully charges the puppy and one man and one dog drive the car. Kia will expand the reach of this robot dog ad by partnering with the Petfinder Foundation, which encourages animal adoption.
GM's advertising content is for Dr. Evil's attempt to take over the world with an electric car. The plot doesn't make much sense, but it uses prime advertising hours to bring climatic terms like tailpipe emissions and carbon footprints to hundreds of millions of Americans, hoping to guide consumers to new perceptions of transportation. New Hummer electric cars, electric Silverado and Cadillac Lyriq appear in the commercial.
Polarstar Polestar Polestar, which is expected to go public this year, released its first Super Bowl ad. The video only has a multi-angle, all-round appearance of Polar Star 2, which at first glance looks like it is dryly saying: "Yes, we are selling cars, this is our car." ”
But the video features "No, and the ever-changing words behind it include "Dirty Secret," "Dieselgate," and "Conquer Mars" — not knowing how Volkswagen and Tesla feel about it.
BMW's advertisement tells the story of the electric god who masters electricity received a gift from his wife, an electric iX SUV, which adjusted his retirement; Chevrolet focused on nostalgia, recreating the classic drama "The Sopranos", replacing the original 90s Chevrolet Suburban with a Silverado EV pickup; Hyundai took a simple "history of human invention" to promote the Iwaiq 5 electric off-road vehicle.
Used car retailers Vroom and Carvana also made their debut at the Super Bowl; Wallbox, which sells home charging devices for electric vehicles, took the opportunity to release the first TV commercial in the brand's history.
Enduring celebrity effect
Advertising forms are ever-changing, no matter whether the plot design is creative enough or eye-catching, celebrities with high popularity and countless fans will always radiate the product to the largest audience in the shortest possible time and get the highest attention. Companies have abandoned environmental clichés this year in favor of traditional marketing tactics: celebrities.
GM's Dr. Evil is played by actor and comedian Mike Myers, in addition to his buddies: actors Rob Lowe, Seth Green and Mindy Sterling.
The protagonists of the BMW car commercial are the well-known Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger and actress Salma Hayek. Schwarzenegger was an active advocate for electric vehicles as governor of California and made his debut as Tesla's sports car in 2006.
In an ad for Nissan, actor Eugene Levy became an action hero alongside actor Danai Gurira and former WWE pro wrestler Dave Bautista by driving the 2023 Nissan Z sports car. As nissan's spokesperson, Brie Larson, the "Captain Marvel" loved by fans around the world, is of course also involved.
Toyota gathered several Hollywood actors with the surname Jones, including Tommy Lee Jones, Leslie Jones and Rashida Jones, to compete in off-road races to promote Toyota Tundras, and at the end of the ad, popular singer Nick Jonas made a surprise appearance.
Uber's food and beverage delivery business, Uber Eats, invited Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow, popular talk show host Trevor Noah, Jennifer Coolidge, and familiar faces like Nicholas Braun to deliver products they couldn't eat (such as diapers and foil). The diversity of the distribution business is demonstrated in a humorous way.
There are many different factors in the entry of electric vehicles into the market, such as the confidence of automakers, government investment and global competitiveness, all competing to pave the way for electric vehicles. But consumer interest is even more crucial to the real take-off of electric vehicles. On the road to the transformation of the automotive industry, the large number of electric vehicles in this year's Super Bowl advertising can be regarded as a watershed in electrified marketing to some extent.
Britta Gross, managing director of energy think tank RMI, said: "Advertising can help electric vehicles become mainstream, automakers can't control demand, but they can go all out to build it and get everyone's attention. ”
Finally, congratulations to this year's Super Bowl winner: the Los Angeles Rams.