As Super Bowl viewership records continue to break year after year, the cost of Super Bowl commercials continue to rise. In the weeks leading up to Super Bowl LIX, the cost of a 30 second ad was up to $8 million. It is estimated that around 51 minutes worth of ads have been sold, making the total amount of ad sales in the hundreds of millions. In past years, Super Bowl ads have exceeded the $20 million mark, with the most expensive in history being over $28 million.
11 (tied with 10) – Kia “Give It Everything” (2019) $19,239,433
- 2019 was the tenth year in a row Kia aired commercials during the Super Bowl. The car manufacturer took a different approach to the ad, choosing to showcase everyday people instead of a big-name celebrity and introducing the Great Unknowns Scholarship.
10 (tied with 11) – Amazon “Not Everything Makes The Cut” (2019) $19,239,433
- Amazon’s 90 second Super Bowl ad features a set of celebrities including Harrison Ford, Forest Whitaker, Ilana Glazer, Abbi Jacobson and NASA astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly. The ad pokes fun at Amazon as an innovator, featuring satirical products such as a toothbrush that plays podcasts.
9 (tied with 8) – Amazon “Before Alexa” (2020) $20,466,892
- “Before Alexa” opens with Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi in their home asking Alexa to adjust the thermostat before going out. DeGeneres then thinks about what people did before Alexa and the ad cuts to various historical scenes that jokingly enact the ways people may have achieved what voice assistants can do today.
8 (tied with 9) – Google “Loretta” (2020) $20,466,892
- Google’s goal for “Loretta” was to show how the company can build products that help people in their daily lives. Set to somber music, the ad was a true story of an elderly man remembering his late wife with the help of Google Assistant.
7 – Samsung “The Next Big Thing” (2013) $20,572,789
- In the early 2010’s Samsung was determined to dethrone Apple, and “The Next Big Thing” reflected the company’s wishes. The ad featured people waiting in line for the new iPhone, only to be wowed by a passerby using a Samsung Galaxy phone.
6 (tied with 5) – Ford “Go Further” (2017) $20,838,268
- Ford’s Super Bowl commercial started with a young boy stuck on a ski-lift and a man left dangling from a roof after his ladders fell. Ford channels the idea that they can make life easier and get you “unstuck” with technologies such as ride-sharing, electric vehicles and self driving cars.
5 (tied with 6) – 84 Lumber “The Journey Begins” (2017) $20,838,268
- 84 Lumber’s ad depicted a Mexican mother and daughter embarking on a journey to leave Mexico and find a better life in the US. The ad features the two coming across two large doors granting them entry into the US with the tagline “The will to succeed is always welcome here.”
4 – Chrysler “America’s Import” (2014) $21,309,881
- Chrysler’s ad continued the company’s “Imported from Detroit” theme under the new tagline “America’s Import.” The ad features Bob Dylan telling viewers to let Germany brew their beer, Switzerland make their watch and Asia make their phone, but that “we will build your car.”
3 (tied with 2) – Cadillac “ScissorHandsFree” (2021) $25,599,225
- “ScissorHandsFree” featured the 1990 Tim Burton movie, featuring Timothee Chalamet playing Edward Scissorhands’s son, Edgar and Winona Ryder playing Edgar’s mother, Kim. Together they demonstrate the challenges that come with having scissors instead of hands, but at the end Edgar takes the wheel of a Cadillac LYRIQ which is possible due to its Super Cruise driver-assistance system.
2 (tied with 3) – General Motors “No Way Norway” (2021) $25,599,225
- GM’s ad stars Will Ferrell who finds out that Norway outpaces the United States in electric vehicle ownership. The ad was an extension of GM’s “Everybody In” campaign which intended to accelerate EV adoption.
1 – Amazon “Mind Reader” (2022) $28,011,912
- The most expensive commercial in Super Bowl history stars Scarlet Johansson and Colin Jost, with Amazon’s Alexa reading the duo’s minds, ordering things and playing music. The ad concludes with Johansson and Jost agreeing that it’s ultimately better if the device can’t read minds.
Due to the Super Bowl being the most watched program in the US every year, companies are willing to spend tens of millions for advertisements. Super Bowl LIX, the most recent Super Bowl, attracted 127.7 million viewers across Fox’s network as well as streaming platforms. (Image/Qualtrics)
