We’re now less than one week away from Super Bowl Sunday, which means we’re that much closer to everyone’s favorite part of the game.
No, not the halftime show. The other thing that will no doubt be causing controversy and water cooler conversation into next week – the ads.
Thankfully for the folks that spend more time waiting for the ad breaks than rooting for a team, a lot of those ads are becoming available on YouTube, Twitter, and other mediums well ahead of the game. The last few weeks have already seen a BMW campaign featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as a teaser for a Lay’s potato chips spot featuring Seth Rogen.
In the newest campaign, from Amazon, Scarlett Johansson and real-life hubs Colin Jost imagine a world where the company’s virtual assistant Alexa can actually read minds — as if it already doesn’t get uncomfortably close to doing just that — with predictably bad and hilarious results.
As Alexa sets the stage for the perfect couples game day experience (which, for some reason, features rosé?), the pair go through a series of scenarios where Alexa actually does know their every thought, which quickly dissolves into every couple’s nightmare of their partners knowing what they are really thinking for once. They agree that Alexa probably knows enough as it is.
Following their pattern of the last few years, Amazon will air an abbreviated cut of the 90-second ad during the showdown between L.A. and Cincinnati this Sunday. NBCU has sold out of all available ad space with 30-second spots selling for a hefty $7 million price tag. This year’s game is estimated to bring in more than last year’s $435.5 million in ad revenue.
One might ask, why shell out for an abbreviated ad in the first place? Especially if you’re releasing a longer version online nearly a week ahead of kickoff?
According to The Bradley Business Group, the answer to that boils down to one all-important term: buzz. While a game day premiere might blow up a conversation at your workplace break room, pre-releasing it online “has provided brands with the opportunity to create extensive buzz surrounding their product or service and the ability to expand their reach further than they ever have before.”
There’s no telling yet if the Jost-Johansson Alexa campaign will go viral or nowhere. However, the initial online response seems to be pretty positive. And it’s probably safe to say there will be a fleet of GIFs available for fans of the couple to choose from to use in their future social media responses.