Who Knows? The Unpredictability of Today’s Super Bowl Spots

Creatives and advertisers used to know with some precision, what worked in the landscape of a Super Bowl ad. An animal could kick someone in the crotch. A man could find an unexpected place to hide his beer. A celebrity, who you were accustomed to seeing in serious roles, could dance. The Super Bowl was a moment to create variations on these themes, and show off one’s expertise in the highly specific craft of Super Bowl ad creation. But many of the tools and tropes of Super Bowl advertising have stopped working in the way they used to, throwing the Super Bowl ad into a crisis of self-examination.

Exploding Objects & Other Missteps 

Large exploding objects used to fill Super Bowl viewers with a feeling of warm contentment. People would marvel at both the majesty of the flame and an advertiser’s disregard for the value of the dollar in throwing money at such a temporary spectacle. Sadly, people are no longer quite so impressed by explosions. Anybody with a phone can explode their dog, their partner, or their own face. 

A celebrity used to be able to do something only slightly out of character and it would throw Super Bowl viewers into a state of shock and wonder.  An actor known for his work in serious hospital dramas, would burst into a light frivolous love song, causing a viewer to think, ‘Who is this actor really? Who is anyone really? Who am I? Is there really such a thing as consistent personality in life or are we all just actors in a drama we are too small to see?’ But our exposure to near constant celebrity hijinx, both in the spotlight and out of it, means that we are no longer surprised when a celebrity picks their nose. We have no celebrity expectations to be thwarted.

The irreverent humor and bold statements that used to carry Super Bowl advertising have all but gone away. Super Bowl viewers used to enjoy being knocked off stable seats by comedy that made them feel squeamish and statements that made them feel small. But more and more, everybody feels uncomfortable all the time. So normalcy becomes a more unexpected feeling than absurdity.

What Do We Do Now? 

Creatives and advertisers now find themselves grappling for what works best in the context of a Super Bowl ad. This process of self-examination has led to wildly unpredictable kinds of ads within a commercial block. Low budget product demos precede ostentatious political statements, which are then followed by warm family-focused picnic moments. 

We tend to get lost in the pressure and the grandness, and the investment of the moment and forget that—although we are talking to a lot of people, we are not on a stage talking to a crowd. We are still talking to individuals who, regardless of vertical or genre, just want to see something that relates to them like they are people. The best ad is almost always just an ad that people can relate to on a basic human level. It doesn’t always have to be a grand statement or spectacle. Some of the best Super Bowl ads are the most modest ones, even in this, the most unpredictable of times.