This Sunday, everyone will gather to watch The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles go head to head for Super Bowl LVII, but a shocking 43% of us will solely be tuning in to watch the commercials ( (Navarro, 2023). With an average cost of a 30-second ad coming in at $7 million, the expectations are high. The Super Bowl has been the gold standard for television advertising for decades. Check out our blog from last year to see why these types of commercials are so effective.
Once again, our eyes and screens were blessed with commercial teasers leading up to the big game. We love marketing tactics that build anticipation and excitement. Here are five commercial teasers that piqued our interest and have us eager to see the full version this Sunday.
Rakuten, a free membership that offers shoppers cash back when they make purchases through their network of 3,500 plus stores, combined nostalgia, influencer marketing, and present trends in their ad teaser. Anyone born in the 80s and 90s could recognize Alicia Silverstone’s iconic Clueless getup from a mile away. Seven seconds into the teaser, the actress's face is revealed as none other than the original 90s teen herself, Cher. In the words of the queen, “Oh, my God. I am totally buggin”. Cue all the nostalgia.
We all know Gen Z has taken a likeness to trends from the 90s and early 2000s, so while this teaser appears to appeal to the 90s crowd, it’s also capturing the attention of the younger generations. Alicia has also had a resurgence in popularity due to being very active on TikTok, appealing to Gen Z and Millenial groups. This ad crosses multiple age groups while staying true to a concise niche and message.
Uber One, a membership program done through Uber that gives members access to all of Uber’s various services (rides, restaurant delivery, and grocery delivery), takes a silly approach to their teaser. This ad utilizes curiosity and fear of missing out in its 30-second run. Uber One also made a genius move by emailing all of their subscribers with a link to the ad, enticing them to click to see something cool, only to have them wait a bit longer. Maybe this tactic disappointed some viewers, but now their curiosity is peaked, and they surely want to hear Diddy’s hit when February 12 rolls around.
This YouTube user explains just how effective this marketing tactic was.
As marketers, we always tell people that variety in video content is a smart move, and this ad is an excellent example. This Doritos teaser with the famous Jack Harlow goes back and forth between user-generated content and high-quality video footage. Not only is Jack Harlow a popular celebrity, he also has a very engaged social media presence. We love how this ad pokes fun at the media's obsession with the celebrity's dating life; sometimes, people can't help being nosey! Cheers to Doritos and Jack Harlow for leaning into reality a bit.
General Motors and Netflix? That is a collab we would not have thought of on our own, but after looking into it more, this is genius marketing. This ad teaser has piqued our curiosity with subtle pop culture references and a perfect celebrity guest star, Will Ferrell. The height of his stardom peaked with Gen X and the “Elder” Millennial crowd, which is the right audience to market Electronic Vehicles to. Now how does Netflix factor in? Will we see more electric vehicles on the popular streaming service? I guess we will have to wait until Sunday to find out!
Breaking Bad is arguably one of the most successful television shows of the modern era. This ad relies on nostalgia big time, and we are here for it. The chemistry between the two leads made the show such a hit, leaving fans hoping and praying for some reunion between actors Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul. Seeing the two of them banter back and forth while Cranston snacks on PopCorners leaves fans of the show ecstatic. They may not get a Breaking Bad film to reunite these two, but this commercial should hold them over for a little while.
This comment on the YouTube video tells all. They said what we’re all thinking.
We’ll all be tuning in this weekend to watch the show; the commercials, of course, not the football. Will these teasers live up to the hype? We’ll report back with our findings. Happy SuperBowl!