As has become the annual marketing tradition, the upcoming Super Bowl on February 7th will play host to numerous multi-million-dollar commercials from some of the biggest brands in the world. While the pandemic has led to hesitation or withdrawal by some firms – notably, Budweiser is sitting it out for the first time in 37 years – the allure of a potential audience of 100 million people tuning in is hard for brands to ignore.
For the 55th Super Bowl, perennial advertisers such as Toyota, Pringles, M&Ms, TurboTax, and Frito-Lay are all on board. In fact, the latter is paying for three separate spots to highlight its Doritos and Cheetos snacks, among other brands. One spot features actor Ashton Kutcher who engages in some detective work to find out who’s been sneaking off with his Cheetos. Frito-Lay is working with Jimmy Kimmel and Mindy Kaling in another spot that highlights its new Doritos 3D Crunch line, which it is reviving from the ‘90s. This is the second year in a row that Doritos has advertised during the big game, as the brand showcased its Cool Ranch flavor during Super Bowl 2020 with an ad featuring hip-hop artist Lil Nas X.
Aside from the fact that snacks go hand-in-hand with big sporting events, Doritos are a particularly popular choice among Super Bowl viewers, according to Interpret’s New Media Measure®, which shows that 37% of Super Bowl viewers in the US purchased Doritos in the last week, compared to 28% who purchased Cheetos, and 20% who purchased Pringles. Moreover, among Doritos buyers, Interpret data finds that 30% are regular NFL viewers, compared to 20% who regularly watch MLB or NBA games.
“Doritos is definitely a touchdown among football fans, making it far easier for Frito-Lay to deliver its marketing messaging to a passionate and enthusiastic audience,” said Janine Cannella, Interpret’s VP of Marketing. “Every big firm has to evaluate the ROI on these multi-million-dollar ad investments, but reinforcing an already popular brand as a top snack choice should pay off for Frito-Lay.”
