Super Bowl advertisements will look at little different this year.
You won't see ads for Avocados from Mexico, Little Caesars or Ford Motors. Those advertisers are bowing out entirely for a variety of reasons. Other companies, like Pepsi and Budweiser, say they’ll spend less on traditional ads for 2021.
“Budweiser got the publicity for saying they weren’t going to run ‘Budweiser’ ads, and instead they were going to give the money to the Advertising Council to promote vaccines. But they still bought four minutes of time to advertise their other brands,” University of Houston Marketing Professor Betsy Gelb said.
The same goes for PepsiCo, who will not have a commercial for Pepsi, but will sponsor the halftime show. They will also have spots for Mountain Dew and Frito-Lay.
“They’re trying to look civic-minded, but they’re also trying to sell their products,” Gelb added. “That’s kind of the marketing approach of the year is to have it both ways.”
According to the New York Post, some companies are also afraid of offending viewers with politically divisive messages. It's why you're likely to see more humorous or hopeful advertisements.
The price of a 30-second spot is slightly down from $5.6 million in 2020 to $5.5 million this year.