The myth, the legend: the Super Bowl commercial

Luca Fontana

9.2.2021

Translation: Veronica Bielawski

The Super Bowl is not just America's biggest sporting highlight. It’s also the advertising industry's annual time to shine. A phenomenon that’s since become truly legendary.

The Super Bowl. In the U.S. alone, it captivates over 100 million people on TV. Every year. Those are record numbers. Only the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 recorded more TV viewers – 125 million or so.

Crazy.

But what’s even crazier is a totally different phenomenon: advertising. Specifically: Super Bowl ads. They’re aired in the commercial breaks between plays, timeouts and halftime. Marketing departments are paying a lot for this – just 30 seconds go for 5.5 million U.S. dollars. That’s just the price of airtime, mind you. This doesn’t even include the cost of production of the commercials.

And boy, do they pack a punch. There’s no sign of restraint – it’s maximum flashiness through and though. Celebrities, state-of-the-art special effects and short stories included. These commercials are no longer «just» phenomena, but have become part of modern pop culture.

Let's take a look at their history. Their creation.

The Super Bowl ad myth.

Super Bowl morphs into advertising

It's 1967. One of the most turbulent decades ever is nearing an end. The sexual revolution. The war in Vietnam. Civil rights movements. Anti-war protests. Four young musicians from Liverpool with mushroom haircuts redefining the sound of the screeching fangirl.

And the first Super Bowl in the history of mankind.

We have the bosses of two rival football leagues – the National and the American Football League (the NFL and AFL) – to thank for it. They want to profit from the exponentially growing television market. There are now 55 million TVs in the country, which translates to 93 per cent of all American households owning one. And counting. At the same time, the population’s thirsty for entertainment that can be enjoyed with family, friends and neighbours alike – together, all while celebrating America. Maybe some sort of major sporting event?

American football.

That makes sense. Football’s as American as baseball, hamburgers and BBQ. Or war, if you'll allow me a touch of politics. In 2018, journalist Michael Mandelbaum wrote about the brutally physical style of play, as well as the sports terminology itself, which is characterised by terms like «trench», «blitz» and «bomb».

In a way, football is a form of trench warfare. Like in most military battles, it’s all about conquering enemy territory, yard by yard, under the leadership of a general; a master strategist. The quarterback.

The Americans like that.

In fact, in 1968, just a year after its birth, the Super Bowl gets its first aeroplane parade – in collaboration with the U.S. military. And one year after that, the NFL and AFL merge. The name «NFL» is kept, but the logo’s now adorned with patriotic stripes and stars. Another year passes. It’s 1970, and Neil Armstrong is already back from his trip to the moon. The halftime show re-enacts the 1815 Battle of New Orleans between U.S. and British troops. Of course it’s perfectly tailored to its target audience.

Branding at its finest. Enter the advertising industry.

Advertisements morph into sex

People revel in the event – the Super Bowl’s thriving. But it’s the year 1973 that really elevates the Super Bowl to a whole new level. One specific commercial, to be exact. It shows «Charlie’s Angels» star, Farrah Fawcett, smearing shaving cream on football player Joe Namath's face.

It’s salacious. Sensual. Provocative.

«Let Noxzema cream your face,» Fawcett sings coquettishly, sending the entire nation into a frenzy. The next day, more people remember the shaving cream brand than the final result of the Super Bowl (the game ended 14-7 for the Miami Dolphins, by the way).

Fawcett and Namath. Two stars, one message.

The advertising industry takes note.

Of course, it’s not like the advertising industry didn’t already know before 1973 that the message was more likely to be believed if recited by celebrities. But the fact that a celebrity commercial can be smug and, above all, simultaneously polarising is new.

And the fact that it’s not just football fans, but almost the entire country talking about it the next day, proves that the Super Bowl is not just an event for sports fanatics. It’s an event for all Americans. For both women and men. Girls and boys. The old and the young. For the advertising industry, this means maximum demographic reach.

Sex morphs into art

Six years later, in 1979, Coca-Cola redefines the typical Super Bowl ad. The commercial features football player Joe Greene. He’s generally perceived to be quite the grumpy chap. Almost evil. And, above all, unapproachable. He’s feared not just by his opponents, but also by his own teammates. He’s even nicknamed «Mean Joe».

Then comes this commercial:

It’ll lead Joe Greene to say, «My public life, my football life... has been kept alive by the commercial», years later in an interview.

No surprise there. The commercial did the unthinkable, boosting not just the popularity of the Coca-Cola brand, but also Joe Greene’s image.

Advertising as image boost? No way!

Still, while «Mean Joe» was previously shunned, «Joe» is suddenly liked. Even rookies – football players completing their first year in the pro league – jokingly offer the otherwise oh-so-grumpy Joe a Coke.

What did this commercial do differently? «Storytelling,» says Penny Hawkey, the writer behind Coca-Cola's influential commercial. It’s true: Mean Joe, limping in the catacombs of the stadium, is offered a Coke by a young fan after a disappointing football game. The gesture of encouragement brings a smile to Mean Joe's face. He then gives the boy his towel as a thank you.

It’s a simple but effective story.

January 1984 swings around the corner. In the break between the third and fourth quarters of the 18th Super Bowl, Steve Jobs reveals his latest masterpiece: the Macintosh. It’s the first modern computer with a graphical user interface. Many still consider this commercial to be the best commercial of all time.

That’s not without merit – it’s both sombre and exciting. Ridley Scott directed the commercial, with George Orwell's novel «1984» serving as inspiration. The message was that «thanks to Apple’s Macintosh, 1984 won’t actually be like ‘1984’».

But it's not the message or the dystopian setting that makes this commercial so memorable. It’s the fact that the commercial is not what you’d consider an ad. It's a short movie. In Hollywood quality. If not even better. It’s a concept that’s meant to redefine how products are advertised.

Commercials are elevated to an art form.

Art morphs into an arms race

Celebrities. Good stories. Hollywood-level production standards. The modern Super Bowl commercial has found its formula. To this day, it’s not being changed much at all.

The years pass. Viewer numbers continue to explode. The Super Bowl is becoming a bigger and bigger show. Bigger than the NBA Finals, Wimbledon, the Tour de France, the UEFA Champions League Final and the Stanley Cup Final.

It’s clear to advertisers that if they want to advertise during the Super Bowl, they have to stand out. And think big. Bigger than the competition. And there’s only one way to achieve this: more money – for more celebrities and special effects. For example, in 2014, car manufacturer Kia, recreated «Matrix» – Morpheus actor Laurence Fishburne and lots of exploding cars included.

Walmart, on the other hand, quotes... well, it quotes just about everything in its 2020 commercial.

These examples showcase the trend of Super Bowl commercials not always just being art, but also a kind of arms race. Admittedly, a figurative one.

Arms race morphs into myth

From cost of production to ad time, the biggest brands spend well between $8 million and $12 million. That’s a lot of money for 30 to 60 seconds of one evening. How can something like this be worth it?

Well, all of us are key. Social networks. Youtube. Instagram. Facebook. The more eye-catching the commercial, the greater the chance of landing in well over one of the «These are the top 10 Super Bowl ads» listicles the next day. And the better the commercial’s quality, love of art and story, the greater the likelihood of being mentioned again and again, even years later.

Like this 2011 Volkswagen commercial that shows a little Darth Vader desperately trying to control his home and family with the Force. First the dog. Then the mum. All in vain. All of a sudden, he does manage to use the Force: on his dad's VW. Of course, it’s actually his dad controlling the car using a wireless key.

There’s also this commercial from this year’s Super Bowl. In it, Amazon’s imagining «a more beautiful vessel» for Alexa than the familiar dark sphere.

Lead actor: Michael B. Jordan.

Let's recap.

John Greene. Macintosh. Volkswagen. It's commercials like these that have withstood the test of time and still find their way into our everyday lives today. They trigger nostalgia. Admiration. And have us coming back for more. And just like that, another ten minutes we voluntarily spent on advertising.

«Remember that commercial – the one where Michael Jordan plays Larry Bird for a Big Mac?» I'll ask my friends.

«Wasn’t there also the Jaguar one with the three British actors rambling on about how ‘it’s good to be bad’, or something?» my friends reply.

Advertisements become legends – handed down from generation to generation. And legends become myths. And this explains why the advertising industry invests so much money for so few seconds of screen time. Namely, it’s not about showing a commercial during the Super Bowl. It’s about creating a commercial that lives on long after the Super Bowl. A commercial that lives on eternally.

The Super Bowl is simply a perfect means to that end.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more

These articles might also interest you