Watch TurboTax’s Super Bowl ad with Issa Rae that decries outdated tax filing methods

TurboTax has released its 12th consecutive Super Bowl ad as part of a marketing push to promote its expert-assisted tax filing business. The spot stars actor Issa Rae struggling to bring a box full of tax papers into an office. The “Now Taxes is So Sweet” commercial opens as Rae drives backward on a highway and cuts through bushes to pull into a parking lot, papers whipping out the window the whole time. “Why do we do things the hard way?” she asks, questioning antiquated tax filing methods that rely on physical forms. “It’s so backwards.” Rae then takes a literal million steps to reach the tax preparer’s office, which ends up being closed. She then awakes from the nightmare on a call with a TurboTax expert who has filed for her and cuts through a cake shaped like a box full of tax forms. The 45-second ad created by R/GA will air in the second quarter of Sunday’s game on Fox. The ad comes after TurboTax on Christmas Day launched a campaign promoting its mobile app and Live Full Service plan, which pairs users with an expert who does their taxes for them. The campaign runs through April 15 across linear TV, streaming, podcasts, digital audio, digital video and social channels, and includes integrations with the NCAA, Netflix, NFL, Spotify, TikTok and YouTube. TurboTax is leaning on its mobile app to reach older Gen Zers comfortable filing their taxes on their phones with the assistance of AI. Its larger campaign also pushes Live Full Service as it looks to build on the 17% increase in TurboTax Live revenue it saw during the 2023 tax year, despite much of its revenue still coming from expert-free self-filing. Gen Z in particular is least likely to turn to professional tax preparers, according to a March report from ACI Worldwide. Read more: Behind TurboTax’s new campaign To reach the self-reliant generation, TurboTax is offering free do-it-yourself filing in its mobile app until Feb. 18 for those filing with the brand for the first time or returning to TurboTax after using a different system last tax season. Bringing Gen Zers to the app also introduces them to TurboTax’s paid Live Full Service plan, Jamie Lasser, director of brand marketing at TurboTax, said in a December interview. TurboTax’s Super Bowl ad is its first under the marketing leadership of Thomas Ranese, who replaced Lara Balazs as chief marketing officer of parent company Intuit in December. Balazs is now CMO of Adobe. For last year’s Super Bowl ad, TurboTax hired “Abbott Elementary” star Quinta Brunson to encourage early tax filing with help from TurboTax experts. TurboTax is one of three financial service brands that bought a Big Game spot this year. Rocket Cos. is returning to the game with a spot focused on homeownership and the American Dream, while NerdWallet makes its debut with an ad promoting its credit card recommendation services and introducing a brand spokesanimal voiced by actor Kieran Culkin. Morgan Stanley’s E-Trade, a Super Bowl regular since 2021 that also ran ads in multiple prior games, has not yet confirmed its plans. Last year, it aired its first Super Bowl spot created by 72andSunny, which featured its recurring baby character playing pickleball. Super Bowl commercials Tracking the latest brand and agency plans Click here

Watch TurboTax’s Super Bowl ad with Issa Rae that decries outdated tax filing methods

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