Super Bowl updates—weight loss drugs, potty breaks and cash giveaways

Ad Age is counting down to Super Bowl LIX. In the weeks leading up to the game, which will air on Fox on Feb. 9, Ad Age will bring you breaking news, analysis and first looks at the high-stakes Big Game commercials—all in our Super Bowl newsletter. Sign up right here to get them via email. A beer and a shot The first three Super Bowl ads released come from two brands that could put on the pounds and another trying to take them off. Anheuser-Busch InBev, which appears to be the game’s biggest advertiser with four minutes of airtime, today unveiled its Michelob Ultra ad starring Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara as pickleball hustlers. The brewer also released its Budweiser Clydesdales spot—it was originally meant to be regional, but will now run nationally. Still to come from the brewer: ads for Bud Light and Stella Artois. Squeezed in between those beer ads—and others for candy, snacks, ice cream and fast food—will be one for weight-loss medications from Hims & Hers, whose products include GLP-1 weight loss injections. The in-house ad, released today, begins by documenting America’s obesity epidemic. It remains to be seen how such a serious approach will play during ad breaks mostly filled with frivolity. Weight Watchers used a similarly sober tone with a 2015 Super Bowl ad that purposely resembled an anti-drug spot (with unhealthy food as the drug). Now, drugs are the answer—a full-circle moment. Watch all the Super Bowl ads released so far Potty breaks and singing stars Plenty more ads will be released in the coming days as marketers seek to gain early attention for their multi-million dollar in-game ad buys. The practice of “pre-releasing” has been around for a long time, but picked up serious steam in 2011 when Volkswagen racked up millions of views and free media by releasing its “The Force” ad early. But for now, we are stuck mostly with teasers—and there are plenty of those, offering more clues on what brands are up to. Toilet paper brand Angel Soft will promote a potty break, for instance. Shania Twain will sing for Coffee mate and Shaboozey stars for Nerds—for more on how the candy brand is feeding momentum for its Gummy Clusters innovation, check out Erika Wheless’ deep dive on its marketing strategy. Wheless also has the latest on Uber Eats’ plans, which include Matthew McConaughey, Martha Stewart and Charli XCX. Fintech company Rocket, known for Super Bowl silliness, is much more serious this year, as evidenced by its teaser that pledges that it is “bringing America home.” For more details on these teasers, and to watch them, check out Ad Age’s Creativity’s daily roundups and sign up for the Creativity Weekly newsletter. Beverage upstarts In total, 46 brands have now confirmed Super Bowl ads. Pepsi and Coke, which once regularly waged their soda wars during the Big Game, are missing, although PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew is in. But these days, it’s the beverage upstarts that are consuming the most time. Canned water brand Liquid Death is making its Big Game debut, it confirmed today, as is Cirkul, which markets water bottles with flavor pods. Poppi, which made its Super Bowl debut last year, is poised to return but has yet to confirm if its ad is regional or national. To keep track of all the advertisers running national spots in the game, bookmark Ad Age’s regularly updated Super Bowl ad chart. Money can buy you love Fetch, a shopping rewards app, is relying on what has become an increasingly popular Super Bowl tactic—giveaways. The company will air a 30-second ad in the fourth quarter to promote a $1.2 million sweepstakes that involves giving $10,000 in cash to 120 individuals who download its app and tune in to a livestream. As noted by Adrianne Pasquarelli, Esurance, Coinbase and, most recently, DoorDash, have engaged in similar strategies in recent years. Get behind-the-scenes details from Big Game advertisers at Ad Age’s livestreamed Super Bowl Playbook event on Feb. 4. Register and learn more at AdAge.com/SuperBowl2025. Swift buzz vs. Chiefs fatigue Of course, the biggest prize for Super Bowl brands probably remains Taylor Swift. The superstar remains elusive for marketers—there are no signs yet of her appearing in any Big Game ads, but she will likely be at the game again to watch Travis Kelce’s Chiefs go for a three-peat. Not everyone is happy about yet another Kansas City appearance, though. After the Chiefs beat the Bills on Sunday, “Super Bowl boycott” began trending on social media from folks fatigued by the Chiefs and also upset about some of the reffing in the Bills-Chiefs game, including Barstool founder Dave Portnoy. Which social media platform will you use Super Bowl Sunday? Take our poll. This week in Super Bowl history Super Bowl XXX was played on this day in 1996 when the Cowboys beat the Steelers in Tempe, Arizona. NBC carried the game, charging $1,085,000 for 30 seconds of commercial time. During the ad breaks, Charlton Heston starred in Bud Light’s “I love you, man” ad, Pepsi had fun with a goldfish and Kinko’s promoted a “new way to office,” which at the time included color copies and computer services. Eight years later, FedEx acquired the brand and later shredded the Kinko’s name. For a complete look at Big Game commercial history, check out Ad Age’s Super Bowl ad archive.

Super Bowl updates—weight loss drugs, potty breaks and cash giveaways

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