It’s that time of year again: Time to get excited about watching the Super Bowl. Or, if you’re like Mad 4 Marketing, then it’s time to get excited about the Super Bowl commercials.
There’s just one thing that’s changed the way we look forward to the big event. And that’s the fact that, in a growing trend that was especially prevalent last year, many of the major brands have already posted their Super Bowl commercials online. This year, 30 spots are already online, out of a potential 50-60 Super Bowl commercials.
That’s at least half! Where has the surprise gone? Why do the rest of us even need to turn on the TV on Feb. 2?
For the companies behind the commercials, it means attracting people online and starting to generate clicks and buzz even before the big day (rather than relying on a call to action to bring viewers online or entice them to make a purchase later). It means that people will already incite the social media traction that will hopefully carry through and beyond the big day.
For example, we know that Budweiser is branching out of the Clydesdale box (although by no means retiring their iconic mascot!) by adding a new member to the family: an adorable puppy who needs a home. But when the farmers try to give the puppy away, the Clydesdales are sad about losing their friend and they rush to intervene. It’s going to do well with audiences whether they’ve already seen it before or not. The beer brand is already doing a huge push to keep the hashtag #BestBuds trending on Twitter. As for the preview on YouTube? It’s already got 30 million views. On game day, it’s only expected to grab about 100 million more at best. So it’s got quite the head start.
Then there are first looks at trailers for two upcoming movies, Russell Crowe’s Biblical “Noah” and Kevin Costner’s appropriately sports-themed “Draft Day.” For films that fans love and look forward to, there’s never too many times to see a new trailer and examine it for contextual clues.
Outside of the movies, big-name celebrities making an appearance in Super Bowl spots include Scarlet Johansson for SodaStream (8.1 million YouTube views to date) and Sir Ben Kingsley for Jaguar (5.5 million). The Muppets, the men of “Full House” and talk show host Ellen will also make appearances.
And you might have seen a few ads from Newcastle, which has built a campaign around NOT doing a Super Bowl spot. Anna Kendrick stars as the actress who isn’t “Super Bowl hot” and therefore won’t be appearing during game day. Their main commercial is standing at 3.3 million YouTube views, which is pretty good for a Super Bowl commercial that won’t even air during the Super Bowl.
Is your curiosity enough to get you online looking up Super Bowl ads early? Or are you waiting to kick back on the couch with some nachos, pretending to care about those big men running around with the ball until the next break?