NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� If you watch the for the commercials, you no longer have to wait until the big game to see what advertisers have in store for viewers.
Many companies now release ads ahead of the game in the hope of capitalizing on the buzz that builds as the game approaches. They hope to recoup some of the reported $7 million that鈥檚 the going rate for a 30-second spot by capturing pre-game attention.
It鈥檚 a big challenge to stand out among the 50-plus advertisers that will be vying for the eyes of the more than 100 million people expected to tune in this year to CBS (and Paramount+ and Nickelodeon) on Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 11). Last year鈥檚 broadcast on Fox was watched by a , according to Nielsen.
So advertisers pull out all the stops. In the ads released ahead of the game so far, Budweiser focuses on , Michelob Ultra capitalizes on the iconic star power of , and Uber Eats goes for laughs with an ad where Jennifer Aniston forgets she starred in 鈥淔riends鈥� with David Schwimmer. Many more commercials are expected to be released ahead of the game.
Of course, not all advertisers release their ads ahead of the game, so there will be surprises. Big advertisers like Amazon have stayed mum on ad plans so far. And while there have been no indications of such, it remains to be seen whether advertisers will capitalize on this year's Taylor Swift buzz in some way.
Here are some of the buzziest ads that have been released so far:
Actress Tina Fey has so many choices on the online travel agency booking.com site she has to hire body doubles: an influencer type played by her 30 Rock co-star, Jane Krakowski, to stay at a fancy hotel, a bigfoot handled by another 30 Rock co-star, Jack McBrayer, to stay at a cabin, and even actress Glenn Close, who stays on a farm.
The Bud Light genie grants wishes 鈥� like giving someone '80s metal hair and someone else a giant bicep 鈥� to Bud Light drinkers. NFL legend Peyton Manning, rapper Post Malone and more also appear on screen.
Budweiser is bringing back to its gameday slot. In the beer brand鈥檚 nostalgic ad, a snowstorm threatens to derail a delivery to a small-town bar. But a team of Clydesdales and a Labrador retriever team up to help Budweiser make the delivery.
Two grandmotherly women ("Dina" and 鈥淢ita鈥�) chase after 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick鈥� actor Danny Ramirez, who took the last bag of Doritos Dinamita from a store shelf, leaving actress Jenna Ortega behind.
Dove's ad begins seemingly whimsically showing young girls having mishaps playing sports to the tune of "It鈥檚 the Hard Knock Life." But the ad cuts starkly to a girl looking self-consciously in the mirror. The message: low body-confidence leads to girls quitting sports, not the mishaps.
Google's heartstring-pulling ad follows a blind man as he uses 鈥淕uided Frame鈥� 鈥� Google's AI-powered accessibility feature for the Pixel camera that uses a combination of audio cues, high-contrast animations and tactile vibrations 鈥� to take pictures of the people and places in his life.
In an ad for Hellmann鈥檚, Kate McKinnon makes an unusual discovery: her cat can talk. Well, sort of. Her furry friend can say one word, 鈥渕ay-ow鈥� 鈥� which skyrockets her to celebrity status and causes a mayonnaise-buying frenzy. The 鈥淢ayo Cat鈥� becomes so famous that she even dates (and soon dumps) Pete Davidson.
Lionel Messi鈥檚 shows off his soccer mastery and apparent loyalty to Michelob Ultra. In the ad, the soccer star also gets an assist from NFL legend Dan Marino and nod from 鈥淭ed Lasso鈥檚鈥� Jason Sudeikis.
Aubrey Plaza is always having a blast, whether she is stuck in an elevator or being abducted by aliens 鈥� or reuniting with her 鈥淧arks and Rec鈥� co-star Nick Offerman while riding dragons.
Retired Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, Buffalo Bills鈥� Bruce Smith and wide receiver Terrell Owens never got a Super Bowl ring, but 惭&补尘辫;惭鈥檚 and Scarlett Johansson present the 鈥淎lmost Champions鈥� ring to the almost winners.
According to Oreo, the key to making life鈥檚 biggest decisions is to 鈥渢wist on it.鈥� An ad for the iconic sandwich before agreeing to start 鈥淜eeping Up With The Kardashians鈥� back in 2007.
After a gas station clerk points out Chris Pratt looks like the man in the Pringles logo, he goes viral and stars in a movie about 鈥淢r. P.鈥�
PepsiCo's year-old lemon-lime soda's debut Super Bowl ad features rapper Ice Spice dealing with a breakup by spending time with the Starry lemon and lime spokescharacters 鈥� the message: 鈥淚t's time to see other sodas.鈥�
Jason Momoa shows off his singing chops in an ad that shows Scrubs duo Zach Braff and Donald Faison singing about T-Mobile home internet to the tune of 鈥淔lashdance ... What a Feeling." 鈥淔lashdance鈥� star Jennifer Beals pops in to spray Momoa with water and ask him to sing it again 鈥� without his shirt.
When someone tells Jennifer Aniston they didn't know you could order a wide variety of products on Uber Eats, Aniston tells them, 鈥淚n order to remember something, you've got to forget something else.鈥� That prompts a wave of forgetting: David and Victoria Beckham forget Victoria Beckham used to be Posh Spice, and Jennifer Aniston forgets she starred in 鈥淔riends鈥� with David Schwimmer.
Mae Anderson And Wyatte Grantham-philips, The Associated Press
