Jan. 26 (UPI) — Snickers is going big for the biggest game of the year, as its maker announced Wednesday it would debut the first live commercial to air during the Super Bowl.
The first live Super Bowl advertisement, for the popular candy bar, will air during the Feb. 5 NFL championship game and star Adam Driver, horses and “other less famous actors,” according to teasers released Wednesday.
“Every year we challenge ourselves to find new ways to satisfy our fans hunger for entertainment by delivering something new and breakthrough, and there is no better way than being the first to have a Super Bowl live ad,” said Allison Miazga-Bedrick, brand director for Snickers at Mars Inc., which manufactures Snickers.
Mars released the Super Bowl ad for Skittles, its other product with time during the game, but stuck with teasers as it ramps up serious hype for its $5 million, 30-second, live Snickers commercial.
Starting at 12 p.m. on Feb. 2, Mars will livestream from the set of the commercial at SnickersLive.com and on the Snickers Facebook page for 36 hours, airing a variety of content, including celebrity appearances. Aside from the livestream, Snickers also plans other content, some live, before, during and after the game.
The commercial itself is expected to air sometime during the third quarter and is promised to include Driver — though there is no indication if he’ll show up as his Star Wars alter ego Kylo Ren — horses, a Western theme, “other less famous actors,” and “other stuff” the directors say they haven’t come up with yet.
“People aren’t forced to watch commercials anymore,” Peter Kain, executive creative director at BBDO, which is creating the ad, told The Wall Street Journal. “They can easily tune them out. We need to do something that makes people want to watch and talk about the ads.”
