Taylor Swift effect: Female-focused ad spots take the Super Bowl
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Beauty and health food brands are buying up ad spots for the Super Bowl on Sunday — a testament to football's growing popularity among women and young people.
Why it matters: Pop stars and influencers such as Taylor Swift and Alix Earle helped drive an unprecedented ratings bump for the NFL from the sidelines this season. Now consumer brands want to get in on the action during the Big Game.
Zoom in: e.l.f. Cosmetics reunited the cast of Suits — the most streamed show last year — for its first national Super Bowl commercial.
- NYX Professional Makeup said its ad will "tackle the traditionally male-dominated football industry with Cardi B and powerful women at the forefront."
- Beauty brand Dove returns to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2006 with a commercial about low self-esteem among young girls who play sports.
Be smart: A wider and younger audience is attracting a slew of new brands to the big game.
- Ferrara Candy Co. and Nerds' first big game spot brings the TikTok star power of Addison Rae.
Yes, but: Football fans should still expect their favorite junk food and beverage brands to complement those beauty and sweet spots.
- Beer brands Coors Light, Budweiser and Michelob Ultra are all back this year and PepsiCo has two new soda ads and one for its new Doritos Dinamita Sticks.
What to watch: Expect fewer political ads than during the last presidential election, during which both the Bloomberg and Trump campaigns spent billions on spots. (CBS confirmed that President Biden will not sit down for the traditional presidential interview before the game.)
- Fewer big tech and media ads will be featured, following advertising cuts and pullbacks from streamers.
- The Big Three automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — are sitting out their first Super Bowl since 2021 on the heels of the historic United Auto Workers strike.
Meanwhile, Toyota, Kia, BMW and VW will advertise during the game.
- For VW, it will be its first Super Bowl ad in more than a decade.
Go deeper: From Oikos to Oreo, Super Bowl ads you can watch now
