On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles will be looking to keep the Kansas City Chiefs from repeating their 2020 championship performance in their third appearance in the big game in the past four years.
Along with the Chiefs, a number of brands will also be returning to the biggest sporting event of the year. Though there will always be some surprises, here is a rundown of all of the ads we know you can expect during Sunday’s Canadian broadcast of the big game.
Re/Max
The real estate company is launching its 2023 campaign, called “Advice You Need,” with a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl, supported by paid social and digital efforts.
Featuring a couple considering their first home – and the husband’s home-inspecting father – the spot is a tongue-in-cheek nod to Re/Max’s expertise in real estate that urges Canadians to hire real experts who can help them understand the nuances and complexities of home ownership.
“More than half of Canadians surveyed say that varying home price forecasts have made them more confused about what to do, not to mention all the advice they’re getting from friends and family,” said Anthony Volpini, executive director of marketing for Re/Max Canada, in a release. “It’s a tricky time that makes having the right agent there to help you really important.”
“The best comedy is based in truth. We wanted to have fun playing off a legitimate truth we all face when we’re thinking about buying or selling a home – the well-intentioned, but unsolicited and often questionable advice you get from friends and family,” added Jeff Collins, CD at Arrivals + Departures, which developed the spot as Re/Max’s AOR.
KFC
The fried chicken QSR is debuting a 15-second spot that showcases Canadian basketball talent during prime time on Sunday.
The ad features the Scarborough Shooting Stars, while visually linking basketball hoops – or “buckets” – with the iconic packaging for KFC’s signature product. The goal is to tap into the expanding market of basketball fans in Canada.
“Canadians’ love for finger-lickin’ good buckets is only matched by their love of buckets on the basketball court,” explained Azim Akhtar, director of marketing for KFC Canada, in a release. “That’s why we wanted to bring these two worlds together like only KFC can and create an epic winterized court that feeds Canadians’ growing passion for basketball.”
The spot is the launch of a new campaign, developed by Narrative and called “Buckets Are Life,” that features Toronto Raptors star Gary Trent Jr. Alongside the ad, the brand will be donating outdoor court time on what it has dubbed the KFCourt – a winter-friendly basketball court located beneath Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway, at The Bentway. The court will be open until Feb. 22.
KFC is also running game night promos starting Feb. 13, the night after the Super Bowl, and will bring the campaign alive in additional OOH, TV and OLV executions.
FanDuel
During this year’s Super Bowl broadcast, the online sportsbook will air a first-of-its-kind live commercial, called the “Kick of Destiny,” which features four-time Super Bowl champion and five-time NFL Pro Bowler Rob Gronkowski.
In the spot, airing in both the U.S. and Canada, the career tight end will test his mettle in a new role as he attempts to successfully kick a field goal. The brand teased the kick with a promo video three weeks ago that featured one of the greatest professional kickers of all time, Adam Vinatieri, stepping in to help Gronk get ready for his big moment. The journey has also been documented by TSN and FanDuel analyst Luke Willson, with teaser ads airing across traditional and digital channels ever since.
The “Kick of Destiny” stunt is designed to drive betting through the service, as users who place bets of $5 or more will be automatically entered for a chance to win a portion of the $10 million in “bonus bets.” FanDuel is also one of the official sponsors of Bell’s broadcast.
Tim Hortons
The QSR chain will be using the game to spotlight its new chipotle steak loaded bowls and chipotle steak loaded wraps, “our biggest food launch of the year,” Solange Bernard, senior director of marketing communications, tells strategy.
The new menu items have just launched in Tims restaurants across the country, she adds. They are follow-ups to last June’s launch of chicken loaded wraps and bowls.
“We’re looking forward to sharing our latest craveable lunch and dinner options with an engaged audience on one of the biggest days of the year for TV and sports,” says Bernard.
Volkswagen
The automaker’s Canadian arm and its bespoke agency team, Type 1/Taxi, are leaning in to the business’s shift to electric with the launch of a new, all-electric platform.
The platform is kicking off with “Electric Feels Good,” a 45-second spot that prominently showcases VW’s highly anticipated ID.Buzz, a fully-electric reimagining of the automaker’s iconic Microbus. The ad also pays homage to another classic: a 1999 Volkswagen spot that features actor Tony Hale and Styx’s instantly recognizable ’80s earworm, “Mr. Roboto.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdVvibC31kc
The goal, according to VW’s director of marketing, Lynne Piette, is to make EVs seem more fun and approachable, rather than weighting them down with political or other concerns.
“As we help lead the transition to electric mobility, we wanted to bring VW’s spirit of joy and optimism to a conversation that often feels too scary or too activist,” Piette explains. “This is pure VW fun, backed by some pretty amazing technology.”
“You can tell people how to feel, or you can make them feel it for themselves. That was our goal: to create infectious energy and just have fun with it. ‘Mr. Roboto’ still feels as relevant today as it did back in 1983, and now we get to introduce it to a whole new generation of fans,” explained Mike Richardson, ACD at Type 1/Taxi. “It’s the perfect ‘Electric Feels Good’ anthem.”
After its Super Bowl premiere, the campaign will continue in digital, social, cinema, OOH and on VW’s owned channels over the next several months.
Osmow’s
The Mediterranean QSR chain will again feature its “Habibi” spot during another major sporting event.
The spot, which first debuted during broadcasts of the World Cup last year, places a focus on the brand’s partnership with Canada Soccer and Cyle Larin, its brand influencer.
“For Super Bowl LVII, we will air our ‘Habibi’ spot, leveraging an audience that may have never experienced the humour of this creative, which aired heavily during last year’s FIFA World Cup,” says Marina Baric, VP of marketing for the brand. “Given the success that we experienced last year, coupled with the overwhelmingly positive reviews shared by both customers and suppliers, we feel confident that ‘Habibi’ can continue to captivate both new and existing customers of Osmow’s Shawarma.”
Chevrolet
The automaker is premiering a new spot, called “Go Beyond,” to support its Silverado ZR2 during the Canadian broadcast of the big game.
An extension of its “Find New Roads” platform, the spot showcases the new 2023 ZR2 through the exploits of adventure-seeking couple Celeste and Jack, who harness the power of the truck to tackle the difficulties presented by an extreme Canadian winter.
“The Silverado ZR2 represents the very best in Chevrolet full-size trucks, combining off-road performance with a fully redesigned interior, making it ready for any adventure Canadians may set out on,” said George Saratlic, national manager of marketing communications for Chevrolet and GM in Canada. “We challenged our agency team to showcase the Silverado ZR2 in a uniquely Canadian way, and the result is truly epic.”
The 60-second spot will first air during the third quarter of Super Bowl LVII before launching in theatres with the release of Marvel’s “Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania” on Feb. 17.
“The creative concept is about inviting Canadians to ‘Go Beyond.’ The magical part of our country starts where the trail ends,” said Michael Katzikowski, VP and CD at Commonwealth//McCann.
TD
After being one of the most visible advertisers during last year’s game, the bank will be running a pair of spots during the broadcast, one spotlighting its investment platform Easy Trade, and the other the expertise of its financial advisors. TD is also one of the broadcast’s sponsors.
For its Easy Trade spot, the bank is aiming to appeal to younger investors by conveying the trustworthiness of its mobile trading and direct investment app, contrasting its results for one young investor with those had by another who gets their information from the “Internet comment section.”
The other spot tackles the discomfort that can be found in having difficult conversations about money, and how TD advisors are there to help people who need it.
Nescafé
In a spot developed by AOR, Courage, the global coffee brand will showcase the many reuse cases for its glass jars in a spot that’s relatively bereft of actual coffee.
The spot is an effort to break through the “sea of sameness” in the category, according to Courage co-founder and CCO Joel Holtby. It is also meant to convey the truly international reach of the brand – and appeal to a multicultural and truly diverse Canadian audience.
The spot will then become part of a global campaign after Sunday’s game.
Bitbuy
The Canadian exchange was one of many crypto-associated brands to air spots during last year’s Super Bowl, but it is the only one returning to the big game with creative this year.
The 60-second spot, which will be airing before kickoff, debuts the brand’s new ambassador, Toronto Raptors star Scottie Barnes, who will continue to appear in fresh content for Bitbuy throughout the year – including two other, 30-second spots.
Barnes replaces Kyle Lowry, who featured in the brand’s spot for the big game last year and, as the Raps’ “resident hugger,” aims to instill trust and connection in would-be crypto investors amid scandals that have rocked consumer trust.
“We live in an age where people use TV commercial breaks to look down at their phones and skip pre-roll ads within the first few seconds,” Binu Koshy, the brand’s branding and communications director, told strategy earlier this week. “To counter this, we felt it was extremely important to show Scottie right from the beginning of the spot.”
PopCorners
PepsiCo’s popped corn chip brand is going big with its first Super Bowl commercial by revisiting characters from the hit TV series “Breaking Bad.”
Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) return, this time cooking up something a little more legal than what they made on the series – PopCorners chips. Convinced their product will be a smash, Pinkman arranges a meeting with kingpin Tuco Salamanca (Raymond Cruz).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSDAnLlev-Y
The entire spot is one big Easter Egg for fans of the show.
“We tapped into the next level fandom for ‘Breaking Bad’ in Canada to showcase exactly why fans love the air-popped, never fried snack and how the iconic characters could’ve used their talents to ‘Break Into Something Good,'” says Jess Spaulding, chief marketing officer for PepsiCo Foods Canada.
Bubly
Meanwhile, another PepsiCo brand will also appear during the broadcast in a spot that once again features brand ambassador Michael Bublé.
The ad, which promotes the brand’s new raspberry flavour launching the day after the Super Bowl, sees Bublé delivering pitches and product to people across the country, often at the worst times.
“We leveraged consumer insights that expressed a desire for a fun, playful Super Bowl spot, and produced it right here in Canada, for Canadians,” Lourdes Seminario, senior marketing director for PepsiCo Beverages Canada, told strategy.
Other Brands
Though it has yet to be disclosed which ads they’ll be airing, Bell Media has confirmed that new advertising from H&R Block, ClearScore, Downy and Pathways Alliance will also appear during the simulcast of Super Bowl LVII, along with existing creative from Questrade and Bell. Expedia, GMC and Vrbo are also confirmed as sponsors of the game.
