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Super Bowl 2021 Commercial Breakdown

February 17, 2021

2021 started out with a lot of momentum for the Green Bay Packers, their loss to the Colts on November 22nd faded into the past.  But that fateful day on January 24th really stung as Tom Brady got his umpteenth time to shine at the Super Bowl….and shine he did.

But what MMP member really watches the game?  It’s all about the commercials, normally.

This year was to look a little different after some of the heavy hitters bowed out of this year’s lineup of spots for the big game.  Not to worry, creative minds prevailed and there was a pretty good showing of spots, even from the newbies.

From the first break that came right after the awesome and unique National Anthem duet by Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church to the break after the 2 minute warning in the 4th quarter, a total of 102 spots were aired.

Fun fact…after the streaker ran onto the field until they returned to game play, a total of nine spots aired…you can find the action and a great tackle of a half naked man on TikTok. (Tip: delete the app after you watch it)

As is always the case, many of the commercials were promos for media channels, movies and TV shows.  Of the 102 spots, 38 of them made it into this category.  Only four spots were auto ads, Springsteen being the standout….do you remember the brand?  Jeep, of course.

Paramount+ seems to think they are onto something, and wanted us to know about it because they rolled out the stars, both live action and animated, to join in the fun six times.  A few other newbies to the battle for attention during the biggest game on TV were Logitech, Dexcom G6 diabetes management system thanks to Nick Jonas, Scotts lawn products, Oatly (hey, it’s not milk!), Hellman’s Mayo, Dr. Squatch soap, Fiverr, Klarna online shopping, and Guaranteed Rate.

Somehow our very own Vince Lombardi made it into a spot this year for the NFL.  It wasn’t all animated either…the character was played by Russ Hutchinson.

All the spots are nicely organized here. 

What you won’t find are the local spots during the local breaks….once again Cleary Building made a Superbowl appearance, along with some newbies like Keep Wisconsin Warm Cool Fund, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, and RHD Plumbing. Local Super Bowl rates for a :30 second spot will set advertisers back around $10,000 and the rate doubles if the Packers are in the big game.

So how did all these spots get produced in 2020 during a locked down country?  Well, if you looked closely, you would see fewer actors, more outdoor setups,  open spaces, and sometimes keying effects to keep actors separated.  Of course, testing, masks, sanitizing and distancing were the rule on the sets.  Crew and talent weren’t hanging around each other on the set…it was pop in and pop out.  Some producers and directors attended the set remotely, which is common on sets in our neck of the woods as well.

Scotts Lawn Care, for example, rolled out the talent including Leslie David Baker of “The Office,” NASCAR driver Kyle Busch, fitness instructor Emma Lovewell, businesswoman Martha Stewart, actor Carl Weathers and John Travolta, dancing alongside his daughter, Ella.  During the shoot none of them interacted with the others.

Certainly it was a unique year to hold bragging rights to having a spot in the Super Bowl of 2021. Take another look….there are some winners in there!