Celebrity Super Bowl ads hope to outshine Taylor Swift

NEW YORK, United States — The Super Bowl is here and that means millions of Americans will sit down on Sunday to partake in a national passion: watching commercials on TV.

The final of the NFL season — pitting the Kansas City Chiefs against the San Francisco 49ers — is the US advertising industry's biggest event of the year.

Companies will shell out an average of $7 million (P391 million) for 30 seconds in front of an audience that reached 115 million in 2023.

This year, big brands have the sizeable challenge of competing for buzz with megastar Taylor Swift — she will jet in from a concert performance in Tokyo to see her boyfriend play.

Her romance with Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce is expected to boost viewership to record levels, with teens and tweens grabbing a seat on the family sofa to see their hero cheer for her man from a luxury box.

Advertisers pay crazy money because the Super Bowl is one of the rare times when a politically divided and culturally fragmented nation gathers in front of one show.

"There's no other medium where you can get more than 100 million viewers that are watching at the same time," said Charles Taylor, professor of marketing at Villanova University. "This is like the old days when an advertiser can reach most of America with an ad campaign. Today, we've just got no other venue to do that."

Celebs galore

Ad agencies are taking pains to avoid sparking a culture war that could catch brands in the crossfire.

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Bud Light found itself the subject of a right-wing boycott last year after it teamed up with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney on social media.

Playing it safe in Super Bowl ads usually means middle-of-the-road celebrities being funny (or at least giving it an honest try) and this year's offerings are chock filled with stars flogging brands in gag-filled ads.

A spot for Uber Eats is jam packed with "Friends" stars Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer, as well as British super couple David and Victoria Beckham.

Lionel Messi, now with the Inter Miami football club, is the star of a Michelob Lite ad that also sneaks in NFL legend Dan Marino and "Ted Lasso" star Jason