Ad Age is counting down to Super Bowl LVII. In the days leading up to the game, which will air on Fox on Sunday, 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.
Halfway home
We are four days away from the Big Game and 30 commercials have already been released. In last year’s game, 57 ads ran for 54 brands (excluding movie trailers and TV promos), consuming 39 minutes and 30 seconds of air time. So, about half of the ads that will run this year are out. Not that we are counting...
Read more: Super Bowl 2023 commercials released so far
Humor remains the dominant theme. Even Google is going for laughs with a celeb-filled spot that shows how its Pixel phone can fix photo imperfections; Amy Schumer uses it to erase ex-boyfriends from old shots. That is a major departure for the brand, which last year ran an emotional spot plugging “Real Tone” tech that accurately captures diverse skin colors. The campaign went on to win a Cannes Grand Prix.
Are there any award winners in this year’s batch of Super Bowl spots? You be the judge, but so far brands seem to be avoiding taking any creative risks at all in favor of appealing to the masses—and the usual Super Bowl ad tricks are everywhere: visual gags (Hellmann’s shrunk Jon Hamm and Brie Larson); old movie references (John Travolta spoofs “Grease” in T-Mobile’s ad that was released today); and music … plenty of music—including a “Safety Dance” placement in TurboTax’s ad and Uber recalling a whole bunch of catchy old songs with help from “Diddy.”