Peacock's Super Bowl ad includes M&M's and Google partnerships while promoting its own show

M&M’s has drummed up an impressive amount of buzz leading up to its Super Bowl ad, cleverly fueled by the political controversy around its candy mascots. But the Mars-owned brand’s Big Game plans are coming into view as NBCUniversal’s streamer Peacock reveals its own in-game creative with an unexpected set of partnerships.

Instead of using its Big Game efforts to air a trailer for an upcoming series or a sizzle compilation of favorite franchises to promote the platform, Peacock's 30-second spot puts a unique spin on traditional TV marketing. It will use the ad to promote “Poker Face;” the show and spot star Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale, a mystery solver with the ability to tell when people are lying.

For the ad, Peacock “really wanted to feature Charlie Cale’s character in something that felt really live and in-world and relevant to the moment that the spot was running,” said Shannon Willett, Peacock’s chief marketing officer. “We thought the best way to make it in-world is to partner with real brands who are also in the Super Bowl.”

Cale sits at a bar watching the Kansas City Chiefs go up against the Philadelphia Eagles with another patron. The patron asks for proof she can detect fibs by pointing out suspicious content from the Super Bowl’s ads—which will have already aired in the real-world game ahead of Peacock’s fourth-quarter slot.

“The kid licking the window in the Pixel ad?” he asks, referring to Google’s spot that airs in the second quarter. In one scene, a photo of two nicely posed children is ruined by another pressing his tongue to a window in the background (prompting a showcase of Google Pixel’s photo editing software). 

“That’s a 19-year-old,” says Cale—perhaps humorously undermining her psychic abilities in this case.

“The M&M’s characters never left?” he asks in reference to the spokescandies’ stunt leading up to their Big Game spot. She shakes her head.

While M&M’s has kept its Super Bowl ad under wraps so far, a Mars spokesperson told Ad Age that “the brand partnered with several influencers, content providers, networks, and companies to bring to life a one-of-a-kind story for fans.” Of the Peacock spot, the spokesperson said, “Fans will be delighted to see the comical reference to the M&M’s Super Bowl LVII campaign reinforcing the spokescandies’ return.”

In the finale of Peacock’s Super Bowl spot, a trailer for “Poker Face” comes on the bar screen. “It looks good,” he says pointing to the screen. “I’d watch it.”

“Now that’s true,” says Cale, as the screen cuts to a promo shot for the show, pointing fans to stream it on Peacock ahead of its seventh episode airing Feb. 16.

Peacock “partnered with our agency EssenceMediacom to think about who else is in there with us and brands that are well aligned with our tone and wanted to be playful and would have a little bit of fun with it,” said Willett. The CMO added that the list of potential collaborators was narrow—made up of brands Peacock had existing partnerships with or had worked with previously—and confirmations from Google and M&M’s came together quickly.

The partnerships with Mars and Google were non-paid creative integrations, an NBCUniversal spokesperson confirmed. The spot was made with production company Hungry Man and director Dan Opsal.

“It's always more difficult when you've got more brands and more people involved in a single spot, but it's really worth it for the outcome,” said Willett of collaborating with the outside brands. She said that meant making tweaks to the commercial down to the last minute, but that they only made it better in the end.

Willett said the spot is part of a larger marketing push from Peacock for its scripted originals. Previously, the streamer had leaned into its unscripted library heavily, focusing promotions on franchises including “The Real Housewives,” “Below Deck” and “Love Island.”

“We have more original content coming now,” said Willett. “NBC overall has a huge history with unscripted and reality content, which has been important for us to bring those audiences in. Now we're layering on additional big original series and dramas … really now you're going to see more of that ramp up.”