More Super Bowl ad buyers are beginning to release details of their creative set to air during the Feb. 2 game on Fox, and Olay is among the brands "going all in on celebrities," according to Diana Pearl of ADWEEK. The skincare brand's 30-second spot, set for the fourth ad break of the game, features actors Taraji P. Henson and Busy Philipps, news anchor Katie Couric, NBC late-night host Lilly Singh and former astronaut Nicole Stott, many of whom have a "history of working with the brand." A 15-second teaser released Wednesday "shows Singh, Philipps and Stott in space suits heading on a mission to outer space" (ADWEEK.com, 1/15). Meanwhile, Cheetos has "recruited MC Hammer to promote its new popcorn" in an ad that "takes viewers back to 1989" (ADAGE.com, 1/16). Kellogg's Pop-Tarts has released a teaser that stars Jonathan Van Ness of Netflix' "Queer Eye" to promote its appearance in the game, and Van Ness' "personality, not the actual product, is the feature" of the promo (ADAGE.com, 1/16).
COME PLAY WITH US: ADWEEK's Minda Smiley noted the teaser for Mountain Dew's 30-second spot makes it seem like the final product "will reference The Shining, as it references the Stephen King horror flick's typewriter scene." However, instead of the "classic sentence that's repeatedly typed out in the movie ... viewers see a repeated proclamation" about Mountain Dew's new zero-sugar drink (ADWEEK.com, 1/16).
OUT FOR THE COUNT: AD AGE's Jeanine Poggi noted the U.S. Census Bureau, after advertising in Super Bowls XLIV ('10) and XXXIV ('00), the last two years that the census was taken, "will not run a commercial" this year. VMLY&R Exec Dir Alex Hughes, whose firm is handling the Bureau's '20 ad campaign, said, "It isn't an efficient spend of tax payers' dollars" (ADAGE.com, 1/14).
FIRST-TIME RUN: ADWEEK's Kathryn Lundstrom notes global running brand Saucony in its first Super Bowl ad buy will be "focusing on the brand's efforts to promote sustainability, the environment and acts of good." The Boston-based company will be working with Arnold Worldwide, Boston, on the spot (ADWEEK.com, 1/16).
