2016 Super Bowl Commercials

The Super Bowl needs little introduction. In fact, it’s one of biggest sports extravaganzas on the planet.

Next year, this annual clash of the titans will be held at Santa Clara’s Levi’s stadium and although the finalists are yet to be confirmed, one thing’s for sure – it’s going to one heck of a show.

Of course, the game itself takes centre stage, but a Super Bowl wouldn’t be complete without live music, scantily clad cheerleaders, pyrotechnics worthy of a David Copperfield show and last but certainly not least, big budget adverts.

Now, the Super Bowl 50 has premiered some of the world’s most impressive adverts (plus some real flops: does anyone remember Bud Bowl? The less said about that, the better) over the years and they’re usually produced on colossal budgets. If you can believe it (and your eyes don’t deceive you), CBS is selling 30 seconds of Super Bowl ad time for a whopping $5 million – and if you’re going to pay that kind of money for your ad to be featured, you’d better hope you get some serious return on investment.

The price for a 30 second Super Bowl ad increases by around 11.1% each year, so in another five years a slot during the game will cost an unfathomable amount of dough – big bucks is probably an understatement – but for those who get it right, the rewards are endless.

The major players

Without further ado, here’s a sneak peek at a hand-picked selection of the big brands playing to win at Super Bowl 2016 and what to expect from them:

Coca-Cola

Pretty much everyone knows what Coca-Cola is; it’s basically the Beatles of soft drinks – but level of reputation won’t stop the drinks company serving up a big old slice of marketing at the Super Bowl.

At this point in time there is an air of mystery surrounding Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl 2016 advertising campaign but as they’re a regular fixture at the big game, we’re expecting something special.

Doritos

Has the mention of Doritos made you hungry? If not, you’re either not a fan or you’re yet to be seduced by Doritos’ marketing. It has been confirmed that the PepsiCo – Frito Lay owned company will be airing one of its legendary ‘crash ads’ at Super Bowl 2016, during which a handful of lucky winners go home with a cash prize. Although Doritos often opts for a brand of lowbrow humour and cheap plugging tactics, it’s a winning formula that always scores well in the official ad-ranking services.

Honda

For the 2016 Super Bowl, Honda has secured a full 60 second ad slot during the game’s third quarter. This full-throttle campaign will reportedly be plugging the company’s brand new 2017 Honda
Ridgeline truck, which they will debut at January’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Will it prove as effective as Hugfest? We’ll soon find out.

PayPal

Where would we be without PayPal? Well, just in case you need to be reminded, the fund handling giants have secured a 45 second slot at this year’s game, which is PayPal’s first ever Super Bowl ad. Although the exact details haven’t yet been disclosed, the company has vowed to use the spot to introduce the world to PayPal’s vision for the future of money.

The big ad agencies

Behind every big budget ad campaign lays a top ad agency. The ad agency is the pulsating creative brain behind the campaign and often, the success, or failure, of an ad can depend on the germination of an original idea. With this in mind, here’s a look at a few of the major agencies behind some of Super Bowl 2016’s biggest ads:

Goodby Silverstein and Partners

Based in San Francisco, Goodby Silverstein boasts a range of creative expertise and has worked with the likes of Haagen-Dazs, Cheetos, Cisco and Got Milk? For this year’s Super Bowl, the agency is adding the crunch to the Doritos ‘crash ad’ campaign.

Rubin Postaer and Associates

RPA are a cutting-edge agency with a solid track record. Their clients include the likes of the LA Clippers, Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay resort and Laz-Boy. For this year’s Super Bowl, the agency is the fuelling force behind the Honda’s big game offering.

CP&B L.A.

As self-proclaimed ‘Culture Tweakers’, CP&B has helped with some incredible campaigns in recent years, perhaps most notably Domino’s’ Pizza Turnaround. For this year’s Super Bowl, the LA based firm has teamed up with PayPal for its Future of Money plug.

DreamWorks Animation

You’ve probably heard of DreamWorks Animation (you know, that little creative company that helped make Shrek and Antz, among others), but did you know they dabbled in advertising? For Super Bowl 2016, DreamWorks has teamed up with web development specialists Wix and although it’s not quite clear what the ad is going to be focused around exactly, it’s fair to say that it will be one dazzling visual spectacle – especially if The Kingdom Far Far Away is anything to go by.

Of course, in the advertising world, things can chop and change and subs can be made at the last minute, which of course, makes things all the more exciting. The ads, brands and agencies mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg, so we’re expecting great things from the Super Bowl 2016 ad campaigns.

For the average consumer, Super Bowl ads may not necessarily entice a sale; however, these grand campaigns are a real feast for the eyes; they are also part and parcel of the big day. Not only are big game ads highly-entertaining, without them, no Super Bowl would be quite the same.

Happy viewing.

All 2016 Super Bowl Advertisers:

TurboTax
Colgate
Honda
PayPal

Wix.com

LG Televisions
Butterfinger
Acura
Snickers
Avocados From Mexico
Budweiser
Bud Light
Doritos
Intuit
WeatherTech
Coca-Cola
Mountain Dew
Pepsi

Pokemon

Shock Top
Hyundai
Skittles
Squarespace
Kia