Super Bowl LVIII’s ad game is shaping up to look a whole lot like recent commercial bowls. From celebrity-crammed spots to light-hearted fare, Super Bowl advertisers are sticking with the tried-and-true when it comes to in-game commercials for the Feb. 11 game on CBS. But outside of what airs on the big screen, brands are finding more opportunities to lean into the creator economy, AI and potential viral moments.

Here are the commercial trends to watch as the Kansas City Chiefs battle the San Francisco 49ers on Super Bowl Sunday.

Sweets bowl 

Candy and sweets brands have bought into the Big Game en masse, with six so far confirmed to air commercials on Super Bowl Sunday. M&M’s, which is a regular Super Bowl advertiser (parent Mars has advertisers in 13 of the past 14 games) will return, and is joined by first-timers including Lindt, Nerds and Drumstick. Reese’s and Oreo, which are occasional Super Bowl advertisers, will also appear. 

This is a modern-day record number for the category. In the past 20 years, the highest number of sweets brands advertising in a single Super Bowl was three—in 2016, Butterfinger, Skittles and Snickers ran ads, and in 2020, Pop-Tarts, Reese’s Take 5 and Snickers appeared, according to the Ad Age Super Bowl Ad Archive.

Read more about sweets in the Super Bowl

There are several reasons why the Super Bowl might be attractive to sweets brands this year, according to experts who spoke with Ad Age. These include a resurgence in nostalgic marketing, a bump in ad spending in the category, and the opportunity to connect with younger consumers. Nerds, for example, tapped popular TikToker Addison Rae to appear in its teaser.

Influencer moment  

While influencers haven’t necessarily found their way into Super Bowl commercials in a meaningful way, creators are continuing to become a bigger part of marketers’ Big Game strategies. In large part, this is a way for brands to reach younger audiences, especially Gen Z, during the game. 

Also read: How AI shaped Super Bowl creative, social strategies

Aside from Nerds utilizing Rae in its Super Bowl marketing, PepsiCo’s Starry tapped Ice Spice, the Grammy-nominated rapper whose music took off on TikTok. PepsiCo is hopeful that Starry, which debuted in stores in January 2023 as a replacement for Sierra Mist, can make inroads against Coca-Cola’s Sprite among Gen Z.

And cosmetics brand e.l.f. cast TikTok creator Benito Skinner, aka “Benny Drama,” as the beauty brand’s Gen Z intern Kooper in a teaser filled with traditional celebrities such as singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor, Ronald Gladden from “Jury Duty,” and “Suits” stars Gina Torres, Rick Hoffman and Sarah Rafferty.

The NFL, which has hosted a TikTok Tailgate pregame livestream over the last few years, is partnering with micro-influencers, including third-grade teacher Mary Martinez, whose football-themed classroom lessons have attracted social media attention. The NFL has also tapped creators in different content niches, such as artist Devon Rodriguez, who will be bringing his talent for speed sketching portraits to the NFL Honors awards presentation ahead of the Big Game.

Read more about influencers in Super Bowl marketing

Iconic imagery 

Several brands are taking a page from familiar scripts in their Big Game commercials. 

Budweiser, for one, is bringing back its Clydesdale-dog combo in a spot that’s reminiscent of its 2014 and 2015 Big Game commercials. And once again, the message is about resilience and determination. 

Coors Light, which is making its second Super Bowl appearance since Anheuser-Busch InBev gave up its exclusive rights to the game, is reviving its “Silver Bullet” train for the Big Game. Now, it’s called the “Chill Train,” and Coors Light is promoting the ad by giving fans the chance to virtually ride the train via computer-generated imagery. 

And the E-Trade baby—who last year was depicted as the best man in a wedding—will once again make an appearance.

Celebrity packed 

As has been the case in recent Super Bowl history, brands don’t seem to think it is enough to just have one high-profile celebrity spokesperson in their Big Game commercials. Increasingly, marketers are packing 30-seconds with as many stars as they can—ranging from some usual suspects to lesser-known faces. Of course, celebrities have always been a stalwart of Super Bowl ads, but in recent years brands seem to be playing a game of who can cram the most famous faces into their commercials. 

Michelob Ultra’s ad includes Lionel Messi, NFL legend Dan Marino and “Ted Lasso” star Jason Sudeikis. Tina Fey takes a starring role in Booking.com’s ad, which includes cameos from Jane Krakowski and Glenn Close. State Farm is putting Arnold Schwarzenegger in its action-movie-styled ad, which the actor plugged during an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Uber Eats already started teasing out a roster of celebrities poised to star in its in-game spot. So far, the list includes David and Victoria Beckham, and likely Jennifer Aniston. Christopher Walken is starring for BMW eight years after the actor starred for Kia.  He is likely to be joined in the ad by Usher, whose song “Yeah!” appeared in a teaser.

But viewers are not overwhelmingly sold on the sea of celebs—only 41% of respondents to a January Ad Age-Harris Poll listed celebs as their top casting choice, although 53% of Gen Z respondents are into the star power. Animals are the top choice, at 47% for all demos.

Also read: What Gen Zers want from Super Bowl ads

Swift effect 

But the biggest celebrity to appear in the Super Bowl will, of course, be Taylor Swift, who is expected to make it to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to cheer on beau Travis Kelce. Swift has been a ratings driver for the NFL this season, with the Kansas City Chiefs playoff game against the Buffalo Bills pulling 50.4 million people, a 10% increase versus the comparable playoff game a year earlier. 

Also read: Inside the Taylor Swift effect on Super Bowl marketing

It’s expected that multiple brands will jump on the Swift bandwagon on social media, and some agencies and social media managers are preparing for what those moments could look like. And it remains to be seen whether Swift, herself, ends up appearing in any Super Bowl marketing from brands during the game.

AI’s role 

Generative AI only just came to mainstream consciousness ahead of the 2023 game and some would say 2024 is a coming-out party of sorts for the emerging tech. But AI is not yet at a place where it can write the ads, according to industry leaders. The cost of a Super Bowl commercial, which for some can be around $7 million for 30 seconds, is just too big a swing to leave up to AI. 

But the technology is being tapped in other ways. Predominantly, it is expected as a behind-the-scenes tool, including in the early stages of ad development. And social media, where brands typically engage with consumers in real time during the game, present another opportunity for AI activations. 

AI is also expected to show up in the creative itself. Google is featuring the AI capabilities of its Pixel 8 phone in its commercial, and Etsy will air an ad highlighting Gift Mode, a service that blends generative AI, machine learning and human curation to surface relevant gifts. But the spot does not make any direct mention of AI. 

Also read: How AI would script Big Game ads

Side action

Of course, it is no longer enough to create an ad and a few teasers. Brands shelling out $7 million for 30 seconds must find ways to get viewers to actively engage in their Super Bowl campaigns. DoorDash this year has the most ambitious program with a sweepstakes that pledges to award a single winner with every product advertised during the Big Game. The hook is that entrants must input a promo code shown in DoorDash’s ad at a special microsite. Such tactics potentially provide brands with a treasure trove of first-party data. 

Alcohol down, autos flat

The game, so far, has a noticeable lack of alcohol advertisers. While Anheuser-Busch InBev is airing three spots—for Bud Light, Budweiser and Michelob Ultra—spanning two and a half minutes of ad time, that is down from its three-minute buy last year. The brewer gave up alcohol ad exclusivity starting with last year’s game, leading to Diageo, Rémy Martin, Heineken and Molson Coors to jump in. So far, only Molson Coors is back. Seasonality could explain it: peak beer-buying season is the summer, and liquor brands are known to focus on the holidays, in addition to spring and summer poolside drinking. The Super Bowl, in the dead of winter, just might not line up with those priorities.

Meantime, the auto category, traditionally a Big Game stalwart, continues to be a bit sluggish. As of now, four automakers are running a total of four ads—Kia, BMW, Toyota and Volkswagen. That is comparable to last year when three automakers ran four ads. But it’s a significant downturn from the 2022 game, when six automakers ran a total of eight ads. Most of those brands, including Kia, General Motors, Nissan and Polestar, used the pricey investment to plug their electric vehicle ambitions. But since then, the hype on the potential of the EV market has cooled. Still, BMW and Kia are using the game to promote new EV models.