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Fumble! No Gain for Super Bowl Advertisers with #ConsciousConsumers

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What, no dome?

Hey, football fans – we’re down to this week’s conference championship games to decide who will be playing in Super Bowl XLIX Feb. 1 in Glendale, Ariz.

None of us know if the game will live up to the hype that’s just now building, but you don’t need to know Tom Brady from Marcia Brady to be wowed by these numbers:

And then there’s the television broadcast:

Let’s stop at that last fact: Production costs aside, marketers are spending to tell us about their product. You’d think they would want to put their best foot forward.

These marketers know what we know – that consumers are overwhelmingly more likely to spend more dollars with companies that tell us more than how their product tastes.

In our inaugural Conscious Consumer Study released this past fall — between Weeks 6 and 7 for you NFL fans — we learned that Millennials and Baby Boomers, both male and female, are willing to switch brand loyalty if they know more about a product – it could be the product’s safety or sourcing, or perhaps the corporation’s position on animal welfare or labor practices.

Makes us wonder how many of the food and beverage Super Bowl advertisers will tell the 100 million-plus viewers what they stand for? According to Adweek’s Super Bowl ad tracker, not many. Of course, TV advertising is but one play in the marketing game book. But it’s safe to say that most brands will be throwing incomplete passes to #ConsciousConsumers on Super Bowl Sunday.

According to Adweek, some of the food and beverage spots planned for the Super Bowl include:

Anheuser-Busch: The beer brand plans to run three 60-second ads this year—two for Budweiser (from Anomaly in New York) and one for Bud Light (from EnergyBBDO in Chicago). For Bud, one ad will draw on 2014’s popular “Puppy Love” spot with a puppy and the brand’s iconic Clydesdales. Bud Light will also unveil a new ad called “Coin” that features the 1980s icon Pac Man.

Coca-Cola: Not much is known about Coke’s upcoming spot, but the brand has confirmed that it will run a 60-second ad. For context, last year’s multiethnic ad struck a nerve with some viewers, and the 2013 and 2012 spots included strong digital efforts.

Doritos: The Pepsi-owned snack brand will run its “Crash the Super Bowl” campaign for the ninth year. The brand has narrowed the competition to 10 original ideas from independent filmmakers, although one ad is suspiciously similar to 2010’s “Drama Queen” spot created by Rogier Hesp and produced by TBWA/PHS Helsinki. Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco is Doritos’ lead agency.

Pepsi: Pepsi plans to run a 30-second ad to support its halftime sponsorship, where Katy Perry will perform. Mekanism is creating the ad, which also worked on the brand’s .

Snickers: After running a Super Bowl ad , parent company Mars has bought a 30-second ad for Snickers from BBDO in New York. The candy brand’s previous Big Game efforts include with Betty White and a follow-up ad starring Roseanne Barr in 2011.

Skittles: Mars will also run its first ad for Skittles this year. The candy brand is working with DDB Chicago to create the ad and has already released a featuring former NFL player Kurt Warner at a tailgate party.

Avocados from Mexico: Claiming to be the first fresh produce brand to advertise at the Super Bowl, the marketer will air a 30-second ad at the end of the first quarter of the game. The spot is part of a bigger branding campaign that runs through June to build awareness and consumption of guacamole. In correlation with the Big Game, Avocados from Mexico will launch a digital program called “No Guac, No Game” that features Mario Lopez and wife Courtney Lopez. After the spot airs, a social media team plans to launch seven online videos by employing a social media war room.

Newcastle Brown Ale: Although not a Super Bowl advertiser, the beer brand (and agency Droga5) has already ambushed this year’s Big Game with a fake online ad taking aim at Dorito’s “Crash the Superbowl” campaign. The stunt builds on last year’s “If We Made It” online push with Anna Kendrick, which was named Adweek’s No. 1 campaign of 2014. The brand has also enlisted actress Aubrey Plaza with a stunt dubbed “Band of Brands” encouraging marketers to pool their marketing budgets together to buy one 30-second ad.

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