Updates to include final game score, more context about social issues and game

By Dawn Chmielewski

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Anheuser-Busch InBev ABI.BR brought back its iconic workhorse Clydesdales for a Super Bowl ad that the brewing company says celebrates the “grit and determination” of the American spirit.

The Budweiser commercial marks a return to tradition, after a disastrous social media promotion for its Bud Light brand in 2023 featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney sparked calls for a boycott.

“We’re definitely seeing Budweiser play it safe this year,” said Charles R. Taylor, a marketing professor at Villanova’s School of Business and author of a book about Super Bowl ads. “Everybody loves the Clydesdales.”

The return to safe, familiar, nostalgic ground represents a trend among some advertisers for this year’s Super Bowl LIX, in which the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in New Orleans. Brands, which spent $8 million for 30-seconds of air time, leaned on humor, celebrity and warm references to America’s heartland, reflective of the cultural zeitgeist.

Although messages about diversity and inclusion were noticeably absent from this year's game as U.S. President Donald Trump wages war on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, some advertisers tackled head-on the tension that has riven an America wracked by political differences.

In a two-minute spot for Jeep vehicles replete with patriotic symbolism, actor Harrison Ford touted the humble heroes who paid the price for freedom.

"The most sacred thing in life isn't the path, it’s the freedom to choose it," said Ford. "You don’t have to be friends with someone to wave at ‘em. We won't always agree on which way to go, but our difference can be our strength."

Snoop Dogg and former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady appeared in a 30-second commercial denouncing hatred, paid for by Robert Kraft's Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. The NFL touted its work with youth organizations, in an ad that repeats the mantra, "I am somebody."

STARS ALIGN

Super Bowl advertisers flashed serious star power, with an estimated two-thirds of the commercials featuring celebrities.

Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal reenacted their famous deli scene from the 1989 romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally” in a commercial for Hellmann’s mayonnaise that also includes a brief appearance from “Euphoria” actor Sydney Sweeney.

Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara doubled-up on the pickleball court to hustle opponents out of their Michelob Ultra beers. Eugene Levy, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Post Malone, Vine Diesel and Kermit the Frog also showed up in the 30-second spots.

“We’re all in this good, happy place, and want to be entertained,” said Gartner analyst Nicole Denman Greene. “So, to insert your brand in that moment of fandom … you have to deliver creative that is resonant with that audience.”

Nike trotted out stars Jordan Chiles, Caitlin Clark, Sha’Carri Richardson, A'ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu in a new ad campaign featuring the brand's new slogan, "So Win," acknowledging those who defy expectations.

The ad, marking Nike's return to the Super Bowl after nearly three decades, coincides with a broader effort to rebuild the brand after several quarters of lagging sales, driven by unsuccessful business strategies and a dearth of innovative products.

AI IN THE LIVING ROOM

OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, debuted a 60-second spot that used a pointillism-inspired animation style to chart the evolution of technology in its first Super Bowl commercial, bringing the race for artificial intelligence supremacy to America’s bars and living rooms. Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth and Kris Jenner donned Ray-Ban Meta Glasses for a comedic museum tour augmented by AI.

Greene said AI companies are seizing on the Super Bowl’s reach to address consumer anxiety about the fast-evolving technology.

This year’s game featured fewer car commercials than in previous years. Jeep owner Stellantis STLAM.MI is the only automaker to buy Super Bowl ads, including one in which actor Glen Powell delivers a humorously macho twist on the familiar “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” fairy tale.

Ads hawking beers and snacks returned. They shared screen time with newcomer, Liquid Death, the venture-capital-backed canned water brand that bought its first Big Game ad to promote its Killer Cola and Cherry Obituary.

Before the kick-off, the most popular Super Bowl ad is the winner of Doritos’ “Crash the Super Bowl” contest, depicting an alien abduction.

“It’s off the scale on funny, on curiosity,” said Sean Muller, founder and chief executive of TV advertising measurement firm iSpot.TV. “People love the ad.”

(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Nicholas P. Brown in New York; Editing by Ken Li, Diane Craft, Mark Porter and Christian Schmollinger)

((Dawn.Chmielewski@thomsonreuters.com;))