Doja Cat, John Travolta, Adam Driver star in Super Bowl ads
By Mae Anderson, The Associated Press on February 10, 2023.
NEW YORK (AP) – The Super Bowl is advertising’s biggest, glitziest stage. Big name advertisers from Netflix to Google are paying as much as $7 million for a 30-second spot during the big game on Sunday, seeking to capture the attention of the roughly 100 million viewers who tune in each year. To get the most out of those millions, most advertisers release their ads in the days ahead of the big game to maximize publicity for their spots. In the ads released so far, John Travolta and “Scrubs” stars Donald Faison and Zach Braff sing a T-Mobile themed version of “Summer Nights” from “Grease,” Adam Driver creates multiple versions of himself for Squarespace, and Alicia Silverstone reprises her “Clueless” character for online shopping site Rakuten. AVOCADOS FROM MEXICO Anna Faris stars as Eve, who eats an avocado in the garden of Eden. Flash forward to the present day, when no one is ashamed of nudity and everyone is naked, including the Statue of Liberty. BOOKING.COM Actress Melissa McCarthy stars in a musical number for the travel site about her desire to go on a trip “somewhere, anywhere.” BUD LIGHT Actor Miles Teller (“Top Gun: Maverick”) and his wife Keleigh Sperry Teller dance to customer service hold music while drinking a Bud Light. BUDWEISER In a regional ad, a diverse group of people share a six-pack of Budweiser – a voiceover by Kevin Bacon showcases the “six degrees of Bud.” Although he’s not shown, the ad is a nod to the “Six degrees of Kevin Bacon” meme – the idea that anyone in the entertainment business can be linked to Kevin Bacon in six connections. BUSCH LIGHT A mountain man talk talks about surviving the outdoors in an ad that stars singer Sarah McLachlan spoofing her well-known and oft mocked animal-advocacy ad that uses her song “Angel.” DEXCOM Singer Nick Jonas returns for the second year in an ad that highlight’s Dexcom’s glucose monitoring system. DOORDASH Celebrity chef Matty Matheson, Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon The Chef and Nickelodeon’s stop-motion-animated Tiny Chef help a DoorDash shopper find the best products. DORITOS Music stars Jack Harlow, Missy Elliott and Elton John team up in an ad for Doritos Sweet & Tangy BBQ that shows Harlow abandoning his rap career to focus on the triangle – a Doritos-shaped musical instrument. DOWNY UNSTOPABLES Super Bowl regular Procter & Gamble promotes its Downy Unstopables brand in an ad showing actor Danny McBride – who wants to go by “Downy McBride.” DRAFTKINGS The online betting site shows stars including skateboard mogul Tony Hawk and singer Ludacris discussing DraftKings free bet offer at a party at actor Kevin Hart’s house. E(asterisk)TRADE The E(asterisk)Trade babies are back. This time they’re at a wedding to demonstrate E(asterisk)Trade makes you ready for anything, including marriage, kids and college. FARMER’S DOG The subscription dog food service goes for the heartstrings with an ad showing a woman going through life’s milestones with her dog. GENERAL MOTORS AND NETFLIX Actor and comedian Will Ferrell drives different GM electric vehicles through different Netflix shows, including “Bridgerton” and “Stranger Things,” to announce that Netflix will feature electric vehicles in its original shows. GOOGLE Google promotes its Pixel photo editing tools “Magic Eraser” and “Photo Unblur” with a 90 second spot featuring Amy Schumer, Doja Cat and NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo. HELLMANN’S The mayo brand shows actors Jon Hamm and Brie Larson in a fridge with a jar of Hellmann’s mayo – to drive home the point that Hellmann’s would go well with a “ham and brie” sandwich. KIA Kia’s ad for its 2023 Telluride X-Pro SUV shows a dad making an epic trek to recover a child’s left behind “binky.” MICHELOB ULTRA Michelob Ultra’s two ads are set at Bushwood Country Club, the fictional country club in “Caddyshack,” and star a bevy of stars and athletes: tennis great Serena Williams, actor Brian Cox, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, soccer player Alex Morgan and boxer Canelo Alvarez. PARAMOUNT+ Sylvester Stallone and his daughters Sophia, Scarlet and Sistine set up camp on Paramount Mountain. PEACOCK In an unusual move, Peacock’s ad for its “Poker Face” show starring Natasha Lyonne makes a nod to other commercials in the broadcast including ads for M&Ms and Google Pixel. PEPSI ZEROSUGAR Pepsi is running two ads starring Ben Stiller and Steve Martin that ask “Great acting or great taste?” and ask viewers to taste Pepsi Zero Sugar for themselves. PLANTERS Jeff Ross, Natasha Leggero and other comedians hold a “roast” for the Planters spokescharacter Mr. Peanut. POPCORNERS The Frito-Lay brand recreates “Breaking Bad” with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul – but this time the duo are cooking up the PopCorners snack in their RV instead of anything illicit. PRINGLES Anyone can get their hand stuck in a Pringles can, according to Pringles’ latest Super Bowl ad effort, including singer Meghan Trainor. RAKUTEN The online shopping site tapped “Clueless” stars Alicia Silverstone and Elisa Donovan to recreate a scene from the 1995 hit and convey that Rakuten gives shoppers cash back on purchases. Designer Christian Siriano also appears as a student. SKECHERS Snoop Dogg wears different Skechers throughout the day with cameos from Martha Stewart and others. SQUARESPACE Adam Driver contemplates the fact that “Squarespace is a website that makes websites” and splits into multiple versions of himself. T-MOBILE To promote its 5G home internet, John Travolta sings a version of “Summer Nights” with “Scrubs” stars Donald Faison and Zach Braff touting its benefits. TURBOTAX A man dances in front of a fountain to showcase the free time people will have if they let TurboTax professionals do their taxes for them. UBER ONE Uber’s ad for its membership program Uber One shows hip hop mogul P. Diddy working to create a hit song for Uber One. The ad features singers of famous hits, including Montell Jordan (“This is How We Do It”), Kelis (“Milkshake”), Donna Lewis (“I Love You Always Forever”), Haddaway (“What is Love”) and Ylvis (“What Does the Fox Say”). WEATHERTECH The auto accessories maker showcases the fact that its factories and workers are American. WORKDAY In the first Super Bowl ad from the enterprise software company, actual rock stars Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol, Joan Jett and others complain that office workers shouldn’t call each other “rock stars.” ___ This story has been updated to correct the spelling of NBA star’s last name. It’s Antetokounmpo, not Antetekoumpo. 68-67
