Hyundai VP/Marketing Steve Shannon said that the automaker during Super Bowl XLVIII will run "two 30-second ads that lead creative agency Innocean USA is developing," one of which will "feature three celebrities," according to Andrew McMains of AD WEEK. Shannon declined to identify the stars, but "nonetheless described the ad they will appear in," which will "air in the fourth quarter of the game." Two silver Hyundai Elantras stop alongside each other" as a man "drives one (with a friend in the back), and a woman the other." Some "'nice' banter continues back and forth, with the guy, a bit distracted by the woman, facing progressively more difficult road conditions." Hyundai's other ad "will air during the first quarter and feature the company's luxury Genesis car, which is being relaunched next year, six years after it was introduced." That ad "centers around a father and son and the dad's sixth sense-like ability to catch his son just before he falls or gets into trouble." The company is "mulling several song options for the father-son ad, including a George Harrison version of Bob Dylan's 'If Not For You'" (ADWEEK.com, 12/12).
OUT WITH THE OLD: USA TODAY's Bruce Horovitz reports at least three "familiar advertising icons from past Super Bowls -- the E-Trade baby, the GoDaddy Girls and Subway's Jared -- will not show up this go-round." But Syracuse Univ. pop culture professor Robert Thompson said that while some viewers "may take note" of these absences, but "they won't necessarily be clamoring for their return." He added, "They're not the Clydesdales," referring to an iconic Budweiser campaign. However, Thompson said that E-Trade "should think very hard before it throws its baby out with the bathwater." The brand's "smarty-aleck, chubby-cheeked baby has been its Super Bowl ticket to fame" since '07. Thompson said, "That baby is really, really associated with E-Trade. I can't imagine them abandoning that entirely" (USA TODAY, 12/13).
STUDIO CITY: DEADLINE.com's Anita Busch reported four movie studios to date have bought Super Bowl ad time, which is "not to say they can’t buy ad inventory later on." That is down from Super Bowl XLV in '11, when "there were eight buy-ins at the beginning, and steady from last year when Universal, Disney, Paramount and Summit advertised." Disney this year "bought one 30-second spot and said it has not yet decided which movie to advertise." Paramount bought one 30-second spot and "will use it to debut the first footage" from "Transformers: Age of Extinction." Sony will "use the Super Bowl to advertise its rebooted superhero franchise installment" with "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," while Lionsgate "bought a spot in the Super Bowl pregame show -- but no word on what it will advertise as yet." Warner Bros. "made no buy" (DEADLINE.com, 12/11).
