Super Bowl Ad Review: Celebrity Commercials Tried for Fun, But Many Stuck With Formula
variety.comBrian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Advertisers who normally use the Super Bowl to create commercials that make your jaw drop instead were content if they could get just a little smile.
For the second consecutive year, Madison Avenue relied on a massive parade of celebrities to capture consumer attention, foregoing in many cases the social messages and dynamic creative concepts that have generated chatter in the past.
Where the Super Bowl was once the setting for Apple’s still-talked-about “1984” commercial or Procter & Gamble’s clever insertion of Tide into a bevy of ads, it’s now become a place for formulaic cameos of famous faces. “It’s like a celebrity arms race,” says Simon Bruyn, executive creative director at Mother, an independent agency. “It’s like one celebrity isn’t enough.” Super Bowl viewers saw Danny DeVito join Arnold Schwarzenegger for State Farm; Pete McKinnon work with Kate McKinnon for Hellmann’s; Heidi Gardner and Dan Levy pair up for Homes.com; and Chris Pratt pitch Pringles.
Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, Aubrey Plaza and Ice Spice were also on hand. To be sure, there were a few surprises. Beyonce appeared for Verizon, teasing the possible release of new music and appearing in a dizzying array of guises.
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