Inside Amazon's Super Bowl Ad, Starring Scarlett Johansson, Colin Jost and a Psychic Alexa

The platform's formula for success is poking fun at itself—and finding stars willing to do the same

In 2014, racing driver Danica Patrick set a record for the most Super Bowl appearances by a celebrity in her 13th ad for web hosting platform GoDaddy.

Eight years later, a surprising contender is hot on her heels: Amazon’s digital assistant, Alexa, which is about to make its seventh consecutive turn in a Super Bowl commercial for the ecommerce platform.

By now, it’s a familiar formula: celebrities (last year, it was Michael B. Jordan) plus Alexa, multiplied by cross-promotion of other Amazon services, equals Super Bowl ad, as the platform seeks to humanize itself by playing up its perks while also making light of its shortcomings.

This year, the celebrities in question are Black Widow herself, Scarlett Johansson, and her SNL star husband, Colin Jost.

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This story first appeared in the Feb. 7, 2022, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.