Buy now, pay later firm Klarna will make its first Super Bowl foray with a commercial starring Maya Rudolph.
The service, which allows people to split payments without paying interest, tapped the “Saturday Night Live” star for its Western-themed ad showing how people how they can do just that.
The Sweden-based company decided to make its Super Bowl debut as its momentum in the U.S. market grows, says David Sandstrom, chief marketing officer, Klarna. “People are sick and tired of credit cards ripping them off,” he says.
Like many advertisers in the game this year, Klarna decided to take a humorous approach. “There is a longing in the world for entertainment, experience, fun, positive emotions, having a beer with friends (which probably can’t happen this year) and a feeling of togetherness. We really wanted to continue to that and go down that path,” Sandstrom says.
Diversity was also an important part of the campaign, but Sandstrom notes that inclusivity isn’t a new lens through which the company operates. Being a “small Nordic company,” Sandstrom says it has been essential to Klarna’s operations for the company to seek talent from around the world. “In order to do what we do we have to be diverse,” he says, adding that Klarna has employees from over 90 countries.
“We don’t over-think it because it comes so naturally. I see lot of brands and CMOs that try to force it into their creative and what makes me proud is that it is at the heart of what we do,” he says.
As part of the Super Bowl campaign, Klarna is will feature small, minority and Black-owned businesses within the Western town that’s the setting of the commercial.
Klarna is the latest newbie to join the Super Bowl ad game, and the trend isn’t lost on the company. Sandstrom notes there is a theme of old vs. new woven throughout this year’s game, from the matchup between Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback legend Tom Brady and Kansas City Chiefs younger star quarterback Patrick Mahomes to some stalwart advertisers sitting out of the game to make room for first-timers like Klarna.
The 30-second ad, created with Mirimar, will air in the fourth quarter. Noble People was the media agency for the campaign.
