Amazon Prime will "unveil its first Super Bowl commercial" on Sunday -- a 60-second spot on NBC "promoting its upcoming 'Jack Ryan' series, starring John Krasinski," according to David Ng of the L.A. TIMES. Although Amazon has "produced Super Bowl commercials in the past, including one promoting its Echo speaker" with Alec Baldwin and Dan Marino, this "marks the first time that Amazon's Prime service will have a starring role in the big match." The "Jack Ryan" commercial is "expected to air immediately after Sunday's halftime show." Amazon said that the new commercial is "intended to build awareness of Prime's original programming." Amazon Studios Head of Marketing Mike Benson said, "The show is a big priority for us. We think it has the potential to reach a wide audience" (L.A. TIMES, 1/31). AD AGE's Jeanine Poggi noted the trailer "runs against an audio track of soundbites from speeches by political figures like John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump." It also "includes the Bob Dylan song 'All Along the Watchtower,' performed by Devlin and featuring Ed Sheeran." Amazon during the Super Bowl will also "air a 90-second spot promoting Alexa" (ADAGE.com, 1/30).
GRAB THE MIC: ADWEEK's Kristina Monllos noted PepsiCo's 30-second Super Bowl ads touting new flavors of Mountain Dew and Doritos via Goodby Silverstein & Partners, S.F., "has been revealed." The spot features a "lip-sync rap battle" with Peter Dinklage putting his spin on Busta Rhymes’ "Look at Me Now" and Morgan Freeman’s rendition of Missy Elliott’s "Get Ur Freak On." As part of the Mountain Dew-versus-Doritos promotion, the brands will "run an exclusive Snapchat lens on Super Bowl Sunday where fans can record themselves trying to lip-sync like Dinklage or Freeman." While the company is still "unsure about which quarter the ad will air in, a rep for the brands did confirm that the 60-second spot would be in the first half of the game" (ADWEEK.com, 1/30). AD AGE's E.J. Schultz noted PepsiCo will "run the ads back-to-back in the first half of Sunday's game" (ADAGE.com, 1/30).
MUM'S THE WORD: AD AGE's Jack Neff noted Tide is "returning to the Super Bowl." But the Procter & Gamble brand is "staying mum for now on how it will tackle the Super Bowl, including how many spots are involved" (ADAGE.com, 1/30). AD AGE's Poggi noted while car mat manufacturer WeatherTech "doesn't say" what its 30-second Super Bowl commercial will focus on in its teaser, which was released yesterday, it is known that the company "will continue with its 'Made in America' messaging" (ADAGE.com, 1/30).
COMMERCIAL MVP: In Orlando, Dewayne Bevil notes Universal Orlando has recruited Peyton Manning to "star in a commercial that will air during Sunday’s Super Bowl." In the spot, Manning is "touted as 'vacation quarterback.'" In the ad, Manning "tries to conjure up a spell at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction." He also has "encounters with other Universal staples such as the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster, minions, dinosaurs and churros." A 60-second version of the Manning commercial will "air during the pregame coverage, and then a 30-second rendition will appear during halftime of the Super Bowl" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/31).
CARRYING THE TORCH: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY's Breanne Heldman noted U.S. figure skater Nathan Chen will star in "his own Super Bowl commercial" touting the Pyeongchang Games. The 60-second ad is part of NBC's "Best of U.S." campaign (EW.com, 1/30). Heldman also notes skier Lindsey Vonn is the third U.S. athlete featured in the campaign after Chen and skier Mikaela Shiffrin, and her Super Bowl spot "manages to tell some of her powerful story," all set to Alicia Keys' song "Girl on Fire." The Vonn spot is "enough to give anyone with a heart for athletic tales of setbacks and comebacks a few chills" (EW.com, 1/31).
TIS' THE SEASON: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Suzanne Vranica writes marketers "engage in an increasingly elaborate process to craft Super Bowl ads, in the hopes that scoring on television’s biggest stage can help them define a brand, launch a new product or revive sales." Febreze Associate Brand Dir Guerin McClure said, "It’s a pressure cooker. You have got to be memorable, you have to be witty, you have to say something that will actually move the business but you have to do it in a way that is not crass." Wieden + Kennedy Creative Dir Hal Curtis: "Super Bowl is one of the last remaining mass media vehicle. Media is so fractured now." In '17, advertisers paid an estimated $419M for "in-game ad time." P&G said that it "enjoyed its highest week of sales for the Febreze products it featured last year in its Super Bowl ad." Kia said that its spot last year, which featured its Niro crossover and actress Melissa McCarthy, "generated more than 5,000 news stories, a spike in website traffic and brisk sales." Ad execs said that the "societal fissures laid bare" in the '16 U.S. presidential election and its aftermath have made it "more difficult to gauge which ads will prompt a backlash." Hyundai Motor America CMO Dean Evans said, "It’s more risky now that it ever was before. Thank you, Mr. Trump" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/31).
