Super Bowl 2021 ads: Maya Rudolph, Don Cheadle, Brad Garrett and other celebrity stars

The Super Bowl’s competitive and high-risk advertising landscape is looking a little different this year, with big names like Budweiser, Pepsi (the sponsor of the break program) and Coca-Cola leaving their usual commercial purchases while rethinking how best to promote their marks during the coronavirus pandemic. Still, there’s no shortage of creative and fun ads to watch as the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers face off against the Kansas City Chiefs champions in Sunday, February 7.

Here are some of the best, funniest and most uplifting ads for the big game that have been released previously. We will continue to update this post as new ads are released.

Anheuser-Busch

Anheuser-Busch may have chosen to skip its usual Budweiser brand presence among Super Bowl commercials this year, but is debuting its first company ad for the big game. David Fincher, director of Gone Girl and Fight Club, produced the cinematic video, which shows ordinary people enjoying beers together in a touching reminder of pre-pandemic life.

Klarna

The Klarna shopping app is trying to get a boost with a western-themed ad starring four Maya Rudolphs miniatures. The Saturday Night Live star shows off her singing skills.

Samuel Adams

After all, some Super Bowl spectators will see Clydesdale horses. Brewer Sam Adams criticized Budweiser with a commercial that showed horses loose and wreaking havoc on city streets. The ad will only run regionally in New York and Boston.

Indeed

The job site did reveal its first Super Bowl ad, which is based on the emotional side of looking for a job. The star of the show is a new growing recording of the anthem Rise Up by Andra Day, re-recorded by the singer and TikTok star, Christian Shelton.

Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer

A series of doppelgangers (and a real celebrity) star in Michelob’s campaign for its organic soda brand. The challenge is to locate the really famous person (spoiler: it’s Don Cheadle).

Jimmy John’s

The sandwich chain has yet to reveal its real Super Bowl ad, but has released an extended teaser starring Brad Garrett as the “King of the Cold Cuts”, who does not appreciate Jimmy John moving into his territory. There is a whole Mafia-inspired story as a one-sided sandwich war begins.

Scotts and Miracle-Gro

Scotts is drawing on the Super Bowl’s established tradition of harnessing the power of celebrities in its promotion of Miracle-Gro plant fertilizer. You will see many familiar faces, but John Travolta dancing with his daughter is a highlight.

Bud Light

The Bud Light Legends ad is a journey through the memory of marketing. He brings together the stars of Bud Light commercials of the past, including Bud Light Knight and Cedric the Entertainer, to help save an overturned truck full of beer.

Frito-Lay

In an announcement scheduled to run before the coin’s launch, snack maker Frito-Lay brought together a who’s who of the Super Bowl stars, including brothers Manning, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Terry Bradshaw, Jerome Bettis and Deion Sanders . Former Seattle Seahawk Marshawn Lynch chronicles an enhanced version of A Visit From St. Nicholas, reshaping it as’ Twas the Night Before Super Bowl.

Squarespace

This is the extended version of a shorter Squarespace ad that features the reworked version of the national treasure Dolly Parton from their 9 to 5 hit song. The website provider’s commercial is full of dancing entrepreneurs who work on their side shows after the normal business hours. And there is a squirrel-shaped topiary.

Amazon

Amazon has launched a few different Alexa devices over the years, with some very different appearances. The company’s announcement in the Super Bowl asks the question, “What would be the ideal body for Alexa?” The answer is Michael B. Jordan, star of Black Panther and Creed.

Doritos

Actor Matthew McConaughey appears as a flattened 2D version of himself, who is knocked over by a soccer ball and entangles himself in a robot vacuum cleaner until a bag of Doritos 3D chips returns him to his normal state.

Cheetos

Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher and Shaggy team up for a semi-musical commercial mashup involving Kutcher accusing Kunis of repeatedly eating his Cheetos Crunchy Pop Mix. She is caught with orange fingers, but she manages to deny it.

Logitech

Logitech described its big game ad as an “ode to creators”. The commercial is powered by country-rap music star Lil Nas X from Old Town Road. It’s all about using technology to unleash creativity.

Pringles

Pringles had a case of space fever with a story about the return of astronauts who surfaced at sea because the mission control was too busy piling tokens to rescue them.

Tide

In a big nod to surreality, the Tide washing powder remained in all the ways that a hood with the face of actor Jason Alexander from Seinfeld got dirty. Yes, it is as strange as it looks. This is one of the first candidates for the strangest ad in the game.

Anheuser-Busch

Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Budweiser, said in a statement that it would waive the brand’s display time in the game and instead allocate funds for public awareness and education for COVID-19’s vaccination efforts.

Anheuser-Busch also granted vacancies to Bud Light and Michelob and filmed its first corporate commercial, a serious look at its community work and economic recovery efforts.

Lemonade Bud Light Seltzer

Speaking of Bud Light, the low-calorie beer brand took a good-natured look at how terrible 2020 was with a lemon-filled ad for its carbonated lemonade. When life gives you lemons, make it a commercial.

Michelob Ultra

Michelob Ultra made a careful reflection on the nature of happiness to the sound of Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side. Sports superstars, including Peyton Manning and Serena Williams, made appearances.

Stella Artois

Musician Lenny Kravitz defended Stella Artois for an ad with an introspective message based on the idea that humans get about 2.5 billion heartbeats during their lifetime.

Coors Light

Honorable mention: Coors Light will not run a Super Bowl ad during the game, but instead will run a wild final race, launching its Big Game Commercial of Your Dreams campaign to encourage people to dream about their beer. He recruited a psychologist to help develop a video that could possibly trigger Coors Light’s night visions. The dream-inducing video will be available for testing from February 3.