Super Bowl ads this year aim increasingly at women, with more messages of female empowerment, as marketers seek to navigate a polarized political environment for the biggest US sporting event.
With women making up a large segment of the viewing audience, advertisers are giving them a greater voice and offering messages about women controlling their own destiny, according to previews released ahead of today’s Super Bowl LIII between the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots.
“We will see advertisers run messages that skew toward women, but they will be very careful not to offend men along the way,” said Timothy Calkins, a Northwestern University marketing professor who researches Super Bowl advertising.
Racy sexual ads are unlikely in the #MeToo era, Calkins added.
“I think advertisers are going to be very afraid to run anything remotely suggestive,” he said.
One of the female empowerment ads features tennis star Serena Williams for the online dating site Bumble, where she speaks about how women can “make the first move” and take control of their lives.
Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker appears in one message where she shocks restaurant staff by ordering Stella Artois and interacts with Jeff Bridges reprising his Big Lebowski role.
Cosmetics brand Olay is to run its first Super Bowl spot with Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress Sarah Michelle Gellar with a #KillerSkin theme.
A Toyota ad features female football player Antoinette “Toni” Harris, who wants to be the first woman in the NFL.
It is logical to appeal to women who make up about half of the Super Bowl viewing audience, analysts say.
The Super Bowl remains one of the top marketing events of the year with 30-second spots costing about US$5 million to reach the estimated 100 million US viewers, an outlier in a media environment that has become increasingly fragmented into targeted segments.
Bettina Cornwell, a professor and director of sports marketing at the University of Oregon, said that the latest ads are part of a broader trend where brands are promoting their social values.
“Brands are beginning to use that stage to communicate their values, and that includes empowerment, environment-friendly behavior and societal support,” Cornwell said.
However, advertisers are likely to stop short of the approach taken in the Gillette “toxic masculinity” ads that sparked calls for boycotts.
“We’ll see advertisers talking about women’s empowerment, but not in a polarizing way,” Calkins said.
According to a survey by the research firm 3Gem, about 77 percent of viewers said that politically charged ads for the Super Bowl are not compelling, while 60 percent said that a funny ad made them more likely to buy a product.
Pace University marketing professor Larry Chiagouris said it might be bad strategy to advertise female empowerment rather than doing something about it.
“Brands would be wise to practice what they preach and put more women in C-suite offices or make better products for women, rather than talking about it in a commercial,” Chiagouris said. “Why is a brand of toothpaste an arbiter of social values? What brand doesn’t stand for empowerment?”
Chiagouris said he believes brands would eventually move away from social and cultural messages, and find other creative ways to stand out.
“I suspect there will be some backlash to these ads and we will see a turn back to the entertainment value of the messages we had in past years,” he said.
TOOTHLESS: Bologna never looked like finding a way back, and Antonio Conte and his substitutes were waiting to celebrate long before the final whistle SSC Napoli on Monday lifted the Italian Supercoppa with a 2-0 win over Bologna in Riyadh, David Neres netting both goals to earn the league champions a deserved victory over the toothless Coppa Italia winners. Neres opened the scoring with a stunning strike from distance six minutes before halftime and found the net again in the 57th minute when Bologna were caught trying to play out of defense. “We came here as champions of Italy, we wanted this trophy and we showed it with a great performance,” Napoli forward Matteo Politano told Mediaset. “We could have scored a few more goals, but
Backup quarterback Luke Weaver on Wednesday night threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Nick Cenacle with 10 seconds left, as the University of Hawaii rallied for a 35-31 comeback victory over the University of California, Berkeley in a thrilling Hawaii Bowl. Weaver entered the game after Micah Alejado took a hard hit on the previous play. With the Rainbow Warriors (9-4) in range for a tying field goal, coach Timmy Chang took a shot at the end zone, and Cenacle got between two defensive backs and made the contested catch. “How amazing is that?” Chang said. “It’s a program that is built
Fulham on Monday climbed away from the English Premier League relegation zone and left Nottingham Forest mired in the fight for survival after Raul Jimenez’s penalty sealed a 1-0 win. Marco Silva’s side started the day just two points above fourth-bottom Forest, but Jimenez’s first-half goal at Craven Cottage moved them 10 points clear of the bottom three. While Fulham’s relegation fears were eased heading into the Christmas schedule, Forest are just five points ahead of third-bottom West Ham United in the scrap to avoid crashing into the Championship. Forest had won six of their previous eight games in all competitions, with a
Aaron Rodgers’ Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday clung on for a dramatic 29-24 win against the Lions, leaving Detroit’s playoff hopes hanging by a thread as three NFL teams confirmed their post-season berths. Lions quarterback Jared Goff twice thought he had delivered a winning touchdown in the game’s final seconds, only for both to be ruled out for offensive pass interference, sparking furious scenes at Ford Field. “Crazy game ... so happy to get a win,” said Rodgers, describing the high-stakes clash’s final moments as “chaos.” Pittsburgh’s win means the Chicago Bears and the San Francisco 49ers are guaranteed spots in the NFL playoffs. A
RSS