Why So Many Big Brands Will Be MIA on Super Bowl Sunday

When Super Bowl 55 kicks off Sunday, some familiar faces will be absent—and not just from the stands at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium. Big brands like Budweiser and Hyundai, which have produced some of the highest-rated ads in recent history—including 2017’s Born the Hard Way and 2020’s Smaht Pahk—are also staying home this year. ‘A cloud of uncertainty’ Tone is of course a huge challenge in 2021 as advertisers opt to either address the hardships of the last year or provide a moment of levity. But, even then, brands can’t be sure their messages of unity or nostalgic jokes will hit the mark. “With the pandemic in full swing, new and more infectious variants popping up [and] vaccinations trailing original schedules, a cloud of uncertainty hovers over the Super Bowl and brands aren’t looking to plop down $5.5 million on something that’s not a sure bet,” said Dipanjan Chatterjee, vp and principal analyst at Forrester. And so the list of absentee brands now also includes Super Bowl regulars like Coca-Cola, Avocados from Mexico and GoDaddy, as well as retail giant Walmart, which made its Super Bowl debut just last year. A higher temperature Andrew Frank, a distinguished vp analyst at Gartner, noted many big brands tend to go with positive messaging in the Super Bowl—like we’ve seen with Budweiser’s frogs and puppies—but even that can be tricky when American consumers are arguably more divided than ever before. “We can’t agree on meaning and we certainly can’t agree on what's funny,” he added. Last year, Frank noted Budweiser parent Anheuser Busch appeared to address both sides of the political spectrum in its spots for Michelob, which featured Jimmy Fallon trying to make working out fun, and Budweiser, which turned the phrase “typical American” into a patriotic rallying cry. To be fair, despite Budweiser’s absence for the first time in 37 years, Anheuser Busch will still have plenty of representation from brands like Bud Light Seltzer and Bud Light, which will both take humorous approaches to addressing modern-day challenges. But the temperature of the room is certainly different than it was just 12 months ago. “Not only do we have this intense political transition that has resulted in the first attack on the Capitol in 200 years, but the pandemic has not lessened,” said brand consultant Hayes Roth. “And, as we've been told, it's probably going to get worse before it gets better. And so that’s a very difficult climate to come in and start making jokes about Fritos, you know?” ‘The most indirect form of marketing possible’ What’s more, some of the brands sitting out this year may be facing their own financial constraints. (Although it’s worth noting multiple brands, including Budweiser, Planters and Kia are opting to instead donate the money they would have spent on Super Bowl ads.) “I don't know about the budgets for Coke and Walmart, etc., but my guess is that there isn't the largess, shall we say, of budgets for some of these organizations to just go spending an exorbitant amount on a Super Bowl ad,” Roth added. And even if brands do have the budget for it, Chatterjee noted those dollars may have been allocated to “more urgent business priorities like digital transformation and employee well-being.” Plus, retailers and CPG brands have more data than they did a year ago thanks to the shift in shopping behavior since then, which makes direct targeting on digital channels an even safer bet. “Maybe they feel like they have more targeting capability [and] more ability to go direct than … [the] Super Bowl, which is the most indirect form of marketing possible,” Frank said. A temporary situation Nevertheless, analysts say this isn’t the beginning of the end for Super Bowl advertising. “I think it's probably more of a temporary indication that we're just in a very strange transition phase with the pandemic and all the political stuff that's happening,” Frank said. “I would expect that the Super Bowl will be back with full support from the advertising community [in 2022] because it is such a marquis event.” Chatterjee agreed trepidation is unique to 2021 and “in ‘normal’ times, there will always be enough demand from brands for whom the opportunity to speak to 100 million consumers makes sense, even at a cost that has doubled in the last decade.” What will be interesting to see is how viewership is impacted this year—and whether that has any long-term effect on brand decisions regarding Super Bowl placements. If more consumers tune in from home because they’re not at Super Bowl parties, Roth noted brands may be tempted to advertise next year to get in front of all those extra eyeballs. Then again, brands that skip the Super Bowl and don’t see a decline in sales may realize they don’t need to advertise in future games. For all the latest Super Bowl advertising news—who’s in, who’s out, teasers, full ads and more—check out Adweek’s Super Bowl 2021 Ad Tracker and the rest of our stories about the Big Game. And join us on the evening of Feb. 7 for the best in-game coverage of the commercials anywhere.

Super Bowl Commercials

Why So Many Big Brands Will Be MIA on Super Bowl Sunday

2021 is a good year for advertisers to skip, but this won’t become tradition

‘A cloud of uncertainty’

Lisa Lacy

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

‘A cloud of uncertainty’

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Lisa Lacy