The top 5 NFL season kick-off ads

The Baltimore Ravens visit the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs at 8:20 ET tonight on NBC, kicking off another season of NFL football. And with about 16 million fans tuning in to the average regular-season game, the NFL captivates audiences like few other properties. Naturally, it’s bringing out the best in advertisers, who are taking the field with them. As detailed in Ad Age’s football marketing blog, there’s already been a blitz of ad activity. Today, one of the newest entrants is Pepsi. The soft drink brand’s three-minute “Gladiator II”-style star-filled epic blends music, NFL star power and—for fans of ad history—a bit of nostalgia. Below, a look at five NFL campaigns, including Pepsi’s fresh take, that look ready for kickoff. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs 5. Applebee’s training camp A new Applebee’s campaign casts NFL stars as enthusiastic but hapless servers and waiters. “Serving Up the NFL,” from Grey New York, features 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley and Lions head coach Dan Campbell promoting 50-cent boneless wings as football players might—Purdy takes an order like a huddle and considers delivering food with a forward pass, but opts for the handoff to Barkley, who rushes to the table. Campbell advises diners to cover their mouths as they order in an attempt to prevent other diners from stealing their dinner gameplans. Applebee’s, which earlier this year was named the official grill and bar of the NFL, is also running a six-part miniseries on social media channels following the NFLers as they go through Applebee’s “training camp.” 4. Brady, Edelman and Gronkowski chip in It’s probably not a good idea to be watching football at a wedding or while portrait painting, and definitely not while in the cockpit of an airplane—and then there’s the mistake of doing those things without the proper snack. Thankfully, former New England Patriots teammates Tom Brady, Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski are on the scene to correct that mistake in a series of goofy new ads for Tostitos, the NFL’s official chip and dip. The ads, which include Brady’s turn as a flight attendant, build upon a longstanding partnership between PepsiCo-owned Tostitos and the NFL, including the return of team-inspired packaging, available beginning today in local markets. They come from D3, PepsiCo’s internal agency. 3. Kevin Hart dunks on LeBron James Poor LeBron James. It looks like he might win, but he takes a beating anyway. In an ad promoting DraftKings, James gets a notice from the betting platform offering new users $200 in bonus bets and a one-month NFL+ Premium subscription. “I just got an NFL offer,” he says, inspiring a sizzling impromptu roast from Hart, who presumes that offer is to play in the NFL. “Aren’t you too old to be playing football? They want somebody who can run a 40—not somebody who is 40,” Hart jabs, and he’s only getting warmed up. (James, in case you were wondering, turns 40 in December.) The ad, which was produced by the brand, marks James’ first appearance for DraftKings, an official NFL sponsor. Football marketing news Tracking Super Bowl, NFL and college brand moves Read more here 2. YouTube’s mascot gathering YouTube Sunday Ticket—which promises fans the ability to spend the day with all their favorite teams—demonstrates what that might actually feel like in its new ad when a bear, a giant, various birds, a viking, a lion, a pirate and a ram join friends on sofa for an afternoon of football watching. The ad was made in-house by YouTube Creative Studio and directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., who was also behind the camera for a Sunday Ticket spot earlier this year imagining bird team mascots flying south for football’s off-season. 1. Pepsi’s Roman Epic Twenty years later, Pepsi is rocking the Colosseum again. Only this time, the NFL is on board. “Make Your Gameday Epic” celebrates the return of the NFL and the forthcoming release of Paramount Pictures’ “Gladiator II.” The ad stars NFL players Josh Allen, Derrick Henry, Justin Jefferson and Travis Kelce, along with singer Megan Thee Stallion, who delivers a riveting take on Queen’s “We Will Rock You” in an arena where the players use their football skills to stave off a pack of tigers. The action all unfolds from inside a can of Pepsi—and from Pepsi’s advertising vault, which in 2004 produced a similar moment, with Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Pink singing the Queen hit four years after Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator” hit theaters. Pepsi worked with Paramount Pictures, Ridley Scott Associates, Paramount Brand Studio, OMD/ContentCollective and Acceleration Community of Companies for PR.

The top 5 NFL season kick-off ads

Featured Stories