Funny, heartwarming or serious? What to expect from Super Bowl ads

Super Bowl LV, coming after a sobering and harrowing year, has presented a conundrum for the big game’s advertisers.

Is it wise to shell out major cash — about $5.6 million for a 30-second spot — if sales have been suffering? What’s the right tone to strike when the pandemic has brought so much grief? And what’s the right message to send when half the country can’t stand the other half?

“This year there are a lot of icebergs in the water,” said Derek Rucker, a marketing professor who teaches advertising strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Advertising during the Super Bowl, a televised event that can draw 100 million viewers and is the single biggest marketing platform all year, is always a high-stakes investment. But between the pandemic, the storming of the Capitol, the inauguration, the impeachment and ongoing social justice movements, “I can’t think of a Super Bowl in history that has so much else going on,” Rucker said.

“With that level of tension in the environment, anything you do has the potential