Super Bowl commercials in 2021 and who's buying them

Beverages

Anheuser-Busch InBev

Buy: Instead of running its usual ad for Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch will use that ad time for a corporate brand commercial.

Creative: The brewer described it as its “first-ever corporate Super Bowl commercial which launches a campaign highlighting the company’s commitment to making a positive impact on communities and playing a role in our nation’s economic recovery.”

Agencies: TBD

Beverages

Bud Light (Anheuser-Busch InBev)

Buy: Bud Light will air two spots in the game.

Creative: Bud Light debuted its spot promoting its new seltzer lemonade on Jan. 28. In the commercial, Bud Light flashes forward to “future time” to a group of people at a party reminiscing about the hardships the pandemic brought us, from do-it-yourself haircuts to busted wedding plans. The commercial plugs the new hard seltzer lemonade flavor by showing lemons falling from the sky as a symbol of all the “lemons” 2020 brought us. The second spot will promote the namesake brand.

Agencies: Wieden+Kennedy

Beverages

Michelob Ultra (Anheuser-Busch InBev)

Buy: Michelob Ultra will air two 60-second spots in the game.

Creative: Michelob Ultra debuted its first ad on Jan. 25.The commercial shows what a variety of A-List athletes, including Serena Williams, Anthony Davis, Peyton Manning, Brooks Koepka, Jimmy Butler and Alex Morgan, do in their downtime. The message of the ad: You’re not just happy because you win, you win because you’re happy. The second ad will be dedicated to its new organic seltzer variety.

Agencies: Wieden+Kennedy

Buy: M&M’s will air one, 30-second commercial during the first commercial break following kickoff. This is the brand’s sixth Super Bowl ad in the past decade, lasting running a commercial in 2019.

Creative: “Schitt’s Creek” star Dan Levy will make a cameo in the ad. M&M’s released a teaser for the spot on Jan. 27, titled “Reveal gone wrong.” A countdown at an outdoor gender reveal party is shown, and soon after a countdown begins, there’s a boom, smoke and coughing.

Agencies: BBDO New York

Buy: WeatherTech will return to the game for its eighth consecutive year with one 30-second commercial.

Creative: The company will once again lean into its pro-America messaging. That theme took a backseat in its 2020 spot, which looked to garner publicity and donations for the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which had treated the dog of WeatherTech’s founder David MacNeil. WeatherTech introduced a new line of plastic face shields to protect against COVID-19 this year and it also struck a deal with Purell in support of its new CupFone attachment that holds hand sanitizer. The jury is still out on whether the new face shield will appear in the Super Bowl commercial.

Agency: Pinnacle Advertising

Buy: Toyota will return with its fourth consecutive Super Bowl spot. The automaker has not yet confirmed the length or number of spots it will air.

Creative: TBD. In the 2020 game, Toyota ran one 60-second ad for its Highlander SUV. The ad harnessed the classic “There’s no room, go without me!” movie trope, but in Toyota’s version, the Highlander saves the day by rescuing people from everything from chemical disasters to alien attacks. Toyota was one of several Super Bowl advertisers to make last-minute edits to its commercial to remove a scene that could have been perceived as insensitive in the wake of Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash in the weeks before the game.

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi

Financial/Insurance

TurboTax

Buy: TurboTax will return to the Super Bowl for the eighth consecutive year with one spot.

Creative: TBD. In 2020, TurboTax looked to unite viewers by pointing out something they all have in common: taxes. In the spot, a diverse cast dances to the lyrics, “All people are tax people.” The spot features various races, demographics and people from all walks of life, including two deaf women who sign the lyrics.

Agencies: Wieden+Kennedy

Buy: Pringles will return to the Super Bowl with a 30-second commercial airing in the first quarter. This is its fourth consecutive spot.

Creative: Pringles' commercial, which debuted on Jan. 28, suggests the act of stacking different flavors of Pringles together is so engaging that people might ignore a lunar pod’s return from space. People in a NASA-like mission control room don't notice two astronauts stranded at sea because they are stacking Pringles.

Agency: Grey Group

Beverages

Mtn Dew (PepsiCo)

Buy: Fiverr, an Israeli-based freelance platform, will air one 30-second spot in the third quarter of the game. This is its first Super Bowl ad.

Creative: TBD. The spot, which will be an evolution of its recently launched campaign, “It Starts Here,” which will focus on the role Fiverr has played as a resource for businesses during the pandemic.

Agency: TBD

Buy: Cheetos will return to the game for the second consecutive year.

Creative: The spot will feature the new Cheetos Crunch Pop Mix, a combination of Cheetos Crunchy and Cheetos Popcorn. Husband and wife Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis appear, along with singer Shaggy, according to two teasers released in January. Last year, Cheetos' spot starred rapper MC Hammer.

Agency: TBD

Buy: Doritos will return with a spot featuring Matthew McConaughey.

Creative: The spot will highlight Doritos 3D Crunch, a snack introduced in late December that updates the Doritos 3D from 1998. Jimmy Kimmel and Mindy Kaling appeared in a teaser, followed by another that confirmed McConaughey's presence as #FlatMatthew. Last year, Rapper Lil Nas X challenged Sam Elliott to a dance battle in Doritos’ ad.

Agencies: TBD

Buy: In its first Super Bowl buy, Chipotle will air a 30-second commercial in the second quarter.

Creative: Chipotle released its commercial on Jan. 25, that features a young boy asking, what if a burrito could change the world. The goal of the campaign is to kick start Chipotle’s efforts to help young farmers. As part of the campaign, on Super Bowl Sunday Chipotle will waive delivery fees on its app and site for orders of $10 or more and it will donate $1 from every Super Bowl Sunday delivery order—including those made through third-party apps—to the National Young Farmers Coalition.

Agencies: Venables Bell & Partners

Buy: The online car retailer will air a 30-second floater spot, marking its first Super Bowl ad.

Creative: Vroom released its ad on Jan. 12, making it the first Super Bowl LV to drop its in-game commercial. The spot dramatizes the pains of buying a car at a traditional dealership.

Agency: Anomaly

Miscellaneous

Scotts Miracle-Gro

Buy: Scotts Miracle-Gro will air one 30-second spot in the second quarter. This is its first Big Game buy.

Creative: The mantra of the campaign is “keep growing,” and will reflect on what the outdoors means for people during the pandemic, from grilling, to a space to work out, an area to work remotely or for kids to do virtual schooling. The commercial, which will include celebrity cameos, is designed to be optimistic, warm and forward-looking, says John Sass, VP, advertising, Scotts Miracle-Gro. The campaign will include a chance for 42 people to win their dream lawn and gardens.

Agencies: VaynerMedia

Buy: DoorDash will air a 60-second commercial. This is the company’s first Super Bowl ad.

Creative: Sesame Street muppets, including Cookie Monster and Big Bird, along with “Hamilton” star Daveed Diggs, will star in the commercial. The spot celebrates the local neighbors who provide offerings available through DoorDash – including items like ramen, milk, shampoo, birdseed, mango smoothies, paper towels, and, of course, cookies.

Agency: The Martin Agency

Financial/Insurance

E-Trade

Buy: E-Trade will air a 30-second spot in the third quarter of the game.

Creative: The online broker will use the Super Bowl to encourage viewers to get their financial health in shape. On Jan. 26, the company released a teaser showing a young boy in his bedroom trying to bicycle-crunch his stomach into shape as the text, “Kick your finances into shape,” appears on screen. E-Trade last ran a spot in the 2018 game.

Agencies: MullenLowe

Buy: Hellmann’s will be the first mayonnaise brand to advertise in the game with a 30-second spot airing in the third commercial break of the second quarter.

Creative: The ad will feature Amy Schumer, who also shows up in a 15-second teaser that dropped on Jan. 26. The spot will focus on Unilever’s goal of reducing food waste by showing the ways mayonnaise can be used to freshen up leftovers.

Agencies: Wunderman Thompson

Entertainment

Walt Disney Studios

Buy: Walt Disney Studios will return to the Super Bowl with an undisclosed buy.

Creative: TBD. Last year, the movie studio promoted its Marvel film, “Black Widow.”

Agencies: TBD

Buy: Indeed will air a 60-second spot in the first quarter of the game. This is the online job site’s first Big Game commercial.

Creative: The online job site will use the Big Game to showcase the emotional journey of job seekers. The spot will feature real people looking for a job, and their challenges and wins along the way.

Agency: 72andSunny

Buy: General Motors will air two, 60-second commercials in the game, one for Cadillac and another corporate spot.

Creative: The Cadillac ad will plug the Lyriq, a crossover that marks the luxury brand’s first electric vehicle that is expected to hit dealers in the first half of 2022. The corporate spot will continue the automaker’s “ Everybody In” campaign that debuted in early January, aiming to raise awareness for electric vehicles by plugging them as fun, clean and safe, while pushing GM’s proprietary Ultium battery platform.

Agency: Leo Burnett, McCann Worldgroup

Buy: Tide will air a 60-second spot in the second quarter. This is Tide’s fourth Super Bowl ad in three years.

Creative: “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander appears as a computer-generated image on a hoodie that has been pretty dramatically soiled. The commercial debuted on Jan. 28.

Agencies: Woven Collaborative

Buy: DraftKings will air two 15-second spots in the second and third quarters of the game.

Creative: The two commercials, which will feature DraftKings host Jessie Coffield, will offer viewers a chance to enter a free pool to make predictions on fourth-quarter action to give them a taste of the DraftKings experience.

Agency: In-House

Buy: Uber Eats will air its first Super Bowl commercial.

Creative: The company teased its Big Game plans in a skit during “Saturday Night Live” on Jan. 30. Mike Myers and Dana Carvey revived their Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar characters for a “Wayne’s World” skit, but the reunion was actually a teaser for Uber Eats’ Super Bowl commercial.

Agency: TBD

Buy: Amazon will return for its sixth consecutive Super Bowl with an undisclosed buy.

Creative: Amazon teased its return with an Instagram post on Jan. 31, featuring an image of Michael B. Jordan and #AlexasNewBody.

Agencies: TBD