Super Bowl Marketers Go Heavy On Celebrity Endorsers During This Year's Game Telecast

Those hoping for celebrity sightings during Super Bowl 50 ads "were certainly not disappointed" as "some 40 stars appeared in commercials during the game," according to Sydney Ember of the N.Y. TIMES. T-Mobile "got chuckles" with its commercial featuring Drake. A spot for Kia starred Christopher Walken, while one for Bud Light featured Seth Rogen, Amy Schumer, Michael Peña and Paul Rudd. Snickers "ran an ad" featuring Eugene Levy and Willem Dafoe, while Skittles "went with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler." An ad for Avocados From Mexico "featured Scott Baio" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/8). USA TODAY's Charisse Jones notes the screen "was filled with big-name stars from movies, music, TV and the sports world." This year's crop of celebrities in Super Bowl ads is "more than 28 celebrities who popped up" during game breaks last year, and also ahead of the 26 celebs in '14 and 19 celebs in '13. Wrigley Senior Marketing Dir for Confections & Seasonal Matt Montei, whose company owns Skittles, in an email wrote, "We're always looking for ways to entertain our fans in unexpected ways. We felt a celebrity really helped enhance the (advertising) copy to take it to the next level." Hyundai CMO Dean Evans said that Kevin Hart and Ryan Reynolds "were particularly appealing given their current pop culture prominence." Jones notes the fact that both men have a "tremendous social media following also helps to bolster Hyndai's big game buzz" (USA TODAY, 2/8).

GOOD, BAD & UGLY: In L.A., Stephen Battaglio noted the Super Bowl looked like it had the "most celebrity-studded array of commercials in recent memory." Alec Baldwin, Missy Elliot, Jason Schwartzman and Dan Marino "partied for Amazon Echo," while Jeff Goldblum "appeared in three spots." The actor "starred in the Apartments.com spot in the first quarter," and then showed up in the second quarter trailer for "Independence Day: Resurgence" and was the "subject of one of the black-and-white portraits used in the Jeep spot" (L.A. TIMES, 2/8). In Miami, Barry Jackson wrote the Baldwin/Marino spot "was clever" (MIAMIHERALD.com, 2/7). In San Jose, Chuck Barney writes, "Lately Walken has made a habit of spoofing himself, but we're absolutely OK with that." Also, "cheers to Budweiser and Helen Mirren for delivering a blistering takedown of would-be drunken drivers." But "no one wants to see" Dafoe in drag (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2/8).