Insert all the memes about how January is the longest month in eternity - good riddance that it's almost over. With February right around the corner, I for one am looking forward to a new month with special occasions that include visiting my brother for his birthday, celebrating Valentine's Day with my boyfriend and spending the long President's Day Weekend with my family. What most of America really gears up for in February, however, will take place this coming Sunday, when the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs head to Miami to compete in Super Bowl LIV.
Whether you're a sports fan or not, the Big Game is a pretty great excuse to eat ALL the food, and, arguably more importantly, enjoy some of the most-talked-about multimillion dollar advertisements of the year. If you're not up to speed on all the brand chatter surrounding this year's game, let me catch you up.
Starting off with a few fun facts about this year's line-up of ads for the benefit of any other marketing nerds out there:
Fox sold out its inventory of 2020 Super Bowl commercials early for the first time in five years, with marketers scooping up all 77 30-second ad spots by November, the earliest a Super Bowl has sold out since 2011.
Brands have been increasingly creating longer ads (resulting in fewer spots), so Fox created another 2.5-minute ad pod to allow more brands to get into the game. Adweek estimates there will be around 50 commercials during this Super Bowl.
A few newcomer brands like Facebook, Pop-Tarts, Porsche and Walmart are joining the regulars like Anheuser-Bush InBev and Pepsi, while others like Snickers and Squarespace are returning after a few years.
Plenty of celebrities will make appearances, including Bill Nye the Science Guy, Missy Elliott, Busy Philipps, Sylvester Stallone, Rainn Wilson and MC Hammer.
It's not all snack food, humor and tech though; presidential candidates Mike Bloomberg and President Trump are also buying 60 seconds of airtime for their campaigns, so be ready for things to get political.
Now without further ado, let's get to the good stuff. Linked below are round-ups of everything you need to know (and watch) for this year's commercials.
A list of all brands that have bought ads, with descriptions of the agencies, creative and where it will run in the game
Create a free account to access the full article with every ad aired so far
Since Boston will always have a special place in my heart, here's a guide to "the most interesting, impactful, and buzzworthy 2020 Super Bowl commercials, with a particular eye toward ads that Bostonians may enjoy"
All national ads slated to run are embedded for viewing
Watch the "best of the best," according to this outlet
What do you think of this year's ads? My all-time favorite Super Bowl commercials were the ones with the E*trade baby circa 2008, and I also have a soft spot for Budweiser's Clydesdale horses. I'm holding out for Sunday to watch all of these and see if they live up to the hype!
Lede photo by Dave Adamson on Unsplash