The Food Brands that Dominated The Super Bowl 2024

Consumer-PR-shot-of-popcorn-bowl-and-TV-remote-to-show-watching-the-super-bowl

The Super Bowl is not just about American football. It is also the biggest day in advertising, especially for food brands.

According to CBS News, advertisers have reportedly paid ‘$7 million for 30 seconds of air time’ in order to showcase their products or services to ‘an expected audience of more than 100 million viewers’.

Based on the adverts that were released before the big game, this year’s contenders seemed to be dominated by the snack world, with big brands such as Pringles, Doritos, Oreo and M&M’s lined up to appear. As well as some new contenders like Nerds.

It seems that the majority of ads have played it safe this year and embraced light humour. In the age of social media where brands can go viral for all the wrong reasons, it seemed brands wanted to ensure that their product or services were remembered and talked about favourably.

Interestingly though quite a few brands did use Snapchat to extend their Super Bowl campaigns by creating Lenses applicable to their adverts.

As a consumer PR agency specialising in food and drink products, we have rounded up some of our favourite 2024 Super Bowl food ads that packed a punch or had us smiling. (We may have thrown in an honourable mention at the end too!)

Pringles

Pringles’ advert was all about their iconic…moustache. You read that right. For the Super Bowl this year, Pringles teamed up with actor Chris Pratt who appeared with a new look. This new look seemed to remind people of a famous logo face…what do you think?

Pringles also extended this campaign by using Snapchat AR to allow users to see what they would look like as Mr P, complete with moustache, eyebrows and red tie.

M&M’s

M&M’s took the playful and inclusive approach for their Super Bowl campaign.

This involved embracing the ‘almost champions’ and rewarding them for their efforts by creating a special diamond ring made from M&M’s peanut butter.

This was awarded to NFL legends Dan Marino, Terrell Owens and Bruce Smith who have never won a Super Bowl, as well as actress Scarlett Johannson who has lost out on two Oscar nominations.

Take a look at the creation:

Oreo

Kris Jenner and Oreo was not the collab I was expecting. However, it works!

Her cameo in the advert comes from the creative idea of people throughout history making important decisions based on which side of the cookie has frosting.

The creative is strong enough that Kris Jenner fits into the storyline effortlessly as she uses the cookie method to decide whether her family should make a reality TV show.

Check it out below:

Doritos

Want an action-packed adventure? Then check out Doritos’ Super Bowl advert for their Dinamita flavoured crisps.

Not only do you get appearances from actors Jenny Ortega and Danny Ramirez, but you also get a fun, slightly bonkers story that keeps you enthralled.

Doritos also took over the iconic Luxor pyramid in Las Vegas (where the Super Bowl was being hosted) and transformed it into a giant orange Dorito crisp. This was so fans could take a photo of it on Snapchat to enter a competition to win a ticket to the game.

Nerds

Nerds made their first Super Bowl appearance this year and opted to go for the Gen Z appeal by partnering with Addison Rae, a performer who rose to fame on TikTok (she currently has 88.6M followers).

A video was teased last month showing Rae teaching a mysterious student a dance routine. Want to find out who it was? Take a look below:

According to Marketing Brew, the collab with Rae was based ‘on the brand’s interest in engaging with Gen Z, a demographic that has given Gummy Clusters a lot of online attention—and, evidently, sales—since the product was released in 2020.’

The first teaser video was also a good way to get people speculating about who Rae could be coaching and increased the brand’s online exposure.

Honourable Mention

Dove

Dove made an appearance at the Super Bowl for the first time in 18 years with their campaign focused on building body confidence in girls aged 11 to 17.

The ad is tied to a previously announced partnership with Nike to create Body Confident Sport.

It is also based on research that ‘45% of teenage girls globally drop out of sports due to low body confidence’, according to Marketing Dive.

It was hard hitting for many reasons, see what you think below:

An important and poignant message which we are pleased to see Dove bringing to such a wide-reaching event like the Super Bowl.

Overall food brands dominated the Super Bowl this year, but most advertisers played it safe, opting for humour and fun to showcase their products. Will this make them memorable for the public and aid sales and awareness? Only time will tell.

If you want to remember the spectacular of last year’s Super Bowl, check out Escapade’s blog post on Marketing Strategies to Takeaway from Rihanna Super Bowl!

Need the help of a consumer PR agency? Please get in touch by visiting our Contact page, we would love to hear from you!