Virtual currency companies have drawn much of the attention with their debut in the Super Bowl this year (that floating Coinbase QR code!), but several other categories had fresh entrants, too.
As states and sports leagues embrace sports betting, a surge of ads for betting apps has followed. The Super Bowl will showcase several commercials, including one from DraftKings involving a daredevil Lady Luck. Caesar’s Sportsbook filled its ad with the actor JB Smoove as Julius Caesar, the actress Halle Berry as Cleopatra and the Manning family of football stars as their dinner guests.
“The category is starting to play on a national level, whereas historically, based on the rollout of legalization, it was more of a local play,” said Jeremy Carey, the managing director of the sports marketing agency Optimum Sports. “Now they’ve gotten to a threshold where there’s efficiencies to be had on a national level.”
Commercials also pushed viewers to care for their bodies.
Cue Health, which makes an at-home Covid-19 test, tapped the actress Gal Gadot to voice part of its upcoming inaugural Super Bowl spot. Hologic, in its first game-time ad in its 36-year history, asked the singer Mary J. Blige to stress the importance of women keeping up with their health screenings.
“In the moment we’re in in time, health and wellness is absolutely more at the forefront of everybody’s mind-share,” said Jane Mazur, Hologic’s vice president of communications. “We’re not a car, we’re not a chip, we’re not a beer, but we are bringing information to the audience that I think will resonate.”
