From Josh Allen, the recently crowned NFL MVP, and Hailee Steinfeld, to Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, the star power continues to shine bright for the league.

When it comes to which couple would be better to hang out, NFL legend Rob Gronkowski recently gave his thoughts on the matter. Gronk has been dating Camille Kostek since 2015, and he’s also kept himself busy with his role as an analyst on Fox.

Gronkowski’s pick

When it comes to who Gronk would pick, the former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers star admitted his opinion was influenced by his love for the movie Pitch Perfect.

 

 

Steinfeld stars in the film, which swayed Gronkowski to side with Hailee and Josh, but he made it clear he wouldn’t be against hanging out with both couples.

“I’m from Buffalo, so I gotta go with Josh Allen, and Pitch Perfect is like basically my favorite movie… Actually, we won’t even double date, we’ll triple date, I’ll bring ’em all,” said Gronkowski. Just like her boyfriend, Kostek gave a similar answer when posed with the question despite being at a different event.

“He’s from Buffalo, I know he loves Josh Allen, I’ve heard him have so many great interviews with Josh,’ she said. “But, who would pass up an opportunity to sit down with Taylor too. I’ve never met Hailee either. Can we go with option C? Can we do all three couples at the table?”.

Heartland, nostalgia and AI: Super Bowl advertisers mine America’s past and future

Feb 9 (Reuters) – Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR), opens new tab brought back its iconic workhorse Clydesdales for a Super Bowl ad that the brewing company says celebrates the “grit and determination” of the American spirit.

The Budweiser commercial marks a return to tradition, after a disastrous social media promotion for its Bud Light brand in 2023 featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney sparked calls for a boycott.

“We’re definitely seeing Budweiser play it safe this year,” said Charles R. Taylor, a marketing professor at Villanova’s School of Business and author of a book about Super Bowl ads. “Everybody loves the Clydesdales.”

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The return to safe, familiar, nostalgic ground represents a trend among some advertisers for this year’s Super Bowl LIX, a rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans. Brands leaned on humor, celebrity and warm references to America’s heartland, reflective of the cultural zeitgeist.

For the first time, OpenAI and Perplexity will seek to capitalize on the biggest televised event of the year, bringing artificial intelligence into the homes of millions of Americans.

“We’re all in this good, happy place, and want to be entertained,” said Gartner analyst Nicole Denman Greene. “So, to insert your brand in that moment of fandom … you have to deliver creative that is resonant with that audience.”

Super Bowl advertisers are flashing serious star power, with an estimated two-thirds of the commercials featuring celebrities.

Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal reenact their famous deli scene from the 1989 romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally” in a commercial for Hellmann’s mayonnaise that also includes a brief appearance from “Euphoria’s” Sydney Sweeney.

Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara double-up on the pickleball court to hustle opponents out of their Michelob Ultra beers. Eugene Levy, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Post Malone, Vin Diesel and Kermit the Frog also show up in the 30-second spots.

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, debuted a 60-second spot that used a pointillism-inspired animation style to chart the evolution of technology in its first commercial during the Super Bowl, bringing the race for artificial intelligence supremacy to America’s bars and living rooms. Perplexity AI is hosting a Super Bowl sweepstakes that offers a $1 million prize for asking questions during the game.

Greene said AI companies are seizing on the Super Bowl’s reach to address consumer anxiety about the fast-evolving technology.
“All of the ads I’ve seen — and I can’t wait to see all of the creative — it’s more about making people see how they can be more productive, and how their lives could be better,” Greene said. “I don’t know if that’s going to eliminate the fear, because, as people learn more about the capabilities, we’re seeing in the data, that they get less certain.”

Nike returned to the Super Bowl for the first time in nearly three decades with a black and white commercial celebrating women athletes.
The new ad features the brand’s new slogan, “So Win,” acknowledging those who defy expectations. It features star athletes Jordan Chiles, Caitlin Clark, Sha’Carri Richardson, A’ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu, among others.

The ad coincides with a broader effort to rebuild the brand after several quarters of lagging sales, driven by unsuccessful business strategies and a dearth of innovative products.

TACKLING HATRED

A handful of commercials tackled social issues, with Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady appearing in a 30-second commercial denouncing hatred, paid for by Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. The NFL touted its work with youth organizations, in an ad that repeats the mantra, “I am somebody.”

Another provocative ad showed close-ups of women’s breasts to promote breast cancer awareness, with comedian Wanda Sykes urging, “Let’s start paying attention to breasts when it matters the most.”

This year’s game will have fewer car commercials than in previous years. Stellantis (STLAM.MI), opens new tab is the only automaker to announce a Super Bowl ad, in which actor Glen Powell delivers a humorously macho twist on the familiar “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” fairy tale.
Ads hawking beers and snacks return. They will share screen time with newcomer venture capital-backed Liquid Death, the canned water brand that bought its first Big Game ad to promote its Killer Cola and Cherry Obituary.

So far, the most popular Super Bowl ad is the winner of Doritos’ “Crash the Super Bowl” contest, depicting an alien abduction.
“It’s off the scale on funny, on curiosity,” said Sean Muller, founder and chief executive of TV advertising measurement firm iSpot.TV. “People love the ad.”

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Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Nicholas P. Brown in New York; Editing by Ken Li, Diane Craft, Mark Porter and Christian Schmollinger