In the recent events of the Super Bowl, viewers instantly tune in for the once-a-year annual tradition of the finals of football. While some people watched the game for the football or the rivalry between the teams, others also focused their eyes on the famous ads that would be taking place. 

Filled with A-list celebrities, comedy skits, and even full-blown scenarios surrounding the advertised product, the ads can captivate the audience instantly. While a great ad can boost sales and promote the product, an unappealing ad can criticize the brand’s reputation and damage sales. 

An example of this is in 2017 when Kendall Jenner starred in a Pepsi ad promoting the drink through an idea of how the drink unifies people, such as her leaving work to protest. This and then received a large amount of backlash because many viewers thought that Pepsi was “taking advantage” of the Black Lives Matter movement for profit. Soon the brand value dropped by 4%, according to Marketingweek.com. 

“They a have record number of people all tuning into T.V. for one event, so they know they are going to get a lot of buyers and consumers who are going to want to see their product. Even if they don’t think to themselves now ‘I’m going to go something from taco bell,’ the buzz and word of mouth conversation that happens after is good publicity marketing…it’s a great opportunity to get a large number of people the same message at once,” states Ms. Waltemyer (Staff).

As stated in ABCnews.go.com, the limited and anticipated slot for commercials had companies paying around six million to seven million dollars for a 30-second spot. So why are these ad slots in such high demand? This is because 113 million people around the US had tuned in to watch the game, and 118.7 million people viewed the half-time show featuring Rihanna; the most watched half-time show  since Katy Perry’s 2015 performance, according to Fox news. 

So while the ad tends to be only 30 to 60 seconds long, it gives its viewers something to remember and talk about, like the celebrities such as Jack Harlow or Alicia Silverstone in the skit. These nostalgic celebrities are reprising their roles for the skit and the shock factors within stories. “Companies have consistently used the Super bowl as an outlet to promote their products because it remains a strong tradition for millions of Americans to watch… companies have used unique spins and star-studded commercials to stand out above others.” (Camille Khong 12).