At his pre-show press conference on Thursday (Feb. 6), the rapper said that fans could expect storytelling from his set.
“I’ve always been very open about storytelling, through all my catalogue and my history of music, and I’ve always had a passion about bringing that on whatever stage I’m on,” he said. “I’ve always had a form of that, that sense of [making] people listen, but also see and think a little.
2. Classic rock‘s comeback
In a crop of Super Bowl ads defined by Americana, silver generation actors, and a return to machismo, it’s no wonder classic rock had a moment in Super Bowl 59 ads via brands like WeatherTech, Starbucks, and Ram.
Set to Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild,” WeatherTech’s ad showed that a quartet of Golden Girls can have fun too, while Ram took a Van Halen route with Glen Powell-fronted spot set to the band’s “Panama.”
Starbucks also used AC/DC’s song “Thunderstruck” in a post-game spot advertising a free coffee promotion the Monday after the game (Feb. 10).
3. Nostalgic music revivals
Nostalgia is a key ingredient in successful Super Bowl ads, and several brands revived fan-favorite hits in their spots this year.
Mountain Dew turned singer Seal into an actual seal to promote its Baja Blast flavor. In the ad, Seal serenades Becky G with a parody on his 1994 single “Kiss from a Rose” called “Kiss from a Lime.”
Pfizer also leaned on a ‘90s hit for its ad, clearing LL Cool J’s 1990 song “Mama Said Knock You Out” to send a message about fighting cancer. The rapper and his wife also teamed up with Pfizer to share their experience as the latter was diagnosed with stage 3 chondrosarcoma, a rare bone cancer, in 2004. She has been cancer-free for 20 years.
On the regional lineup, P&G used Baha Men’s “Who Let The Dogs Out?” to introduce its new weed and grass-killer brand, Spruce. The ad featured dogs running amok in a yard, showing that the product is safe around pets.
