The Super Bowl LV will feature two of the biggest names in football. But several of the biggest names in the Super Bowl ads will be out in 2021.
Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Hyundai are among the brands that will not advertise during the Super Bowl, choosing to redirect their advertising budgets to different goals – in the case of Budweiser, to raise awareness of the COVID-19 vaccine in the coming months.
“Like everyone, we look forward to bringing people together, reopening restaurants and bars and being able to get together to celebrate with friends and family,” said Budweiser vice president of marketing, Monica Rustgi, in a statement. “To do this and bring consumers back to neighborhood bars and restaurants that have been hit exceptionally hard by the pandemic, we are intervening to support critical awareness of the Covid-19 vaccine.”
Ads for this year’s Super Bowl cost about $ 5.5 million for a 30-second ad, down slightly from last year, according to CNBC.
The marks will not be totally obscure. Anheuser-Busch will still display four-minute ads, split between Bud Light, Michelob Ultra and several other offers. Pepsi will have the break show just for her.
Coca-Cola told CNBC that instead of spending money on Super Bowl ads, it will be “investing in the right resources during these unprecedented times”. The company’s revenue fell 13 percent in the first nine months of 2020 due to the pandemic. Hyundai told AdWeek that the company’s decision not to run an ad “was a decision based on marketing priorities, at the time of upcoming vehicle launches and where we think it would be best to allocate our marketing resources.”
(It’s also worth noting: announcing that you won’t show ads is, in its own way, a form of advertising.)
Like everything in America, the Super Bowl ad structure will be very different on February 7. Expect a great deal of “unity” combined with a portion of, yes, “these unprecedented times”.
Do any ads go with humor or will this be a more solemn Super Sunday night? We’ll find out soon, as brands start launching their ads in the next few days.
____
Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter at @jaybusbee and contact him at [email protected].
More from Yahoo Sports: