All The Athletes In The Michelob Ultra Super Bowl Commercial
The Super Bowl is arguably the biggest sporting event of the year. Case in point? The 2020 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers drew in 102 million viewers, per The Wall Street Journal. That being said, Super Bowl Sunday isn't just a big night for sports, it's also a big night for commercials. The commercials themselves have even become the reason some people tune into the big game.
Securing a slot during the championship game costs a pretty penny, with some companies paying between $5.5 and $5.6 million for a 30-second spot during Super Bowl LV, per USA Today. While some companies like Budweiser, Coca-Cola and Pepsi are passing on a Super Bowl commercial in 2021 to donate their marketing dollars to COVID-19 relief, per MarketWatch, companies like Michelob Ultra are taking full advantage of the massive viewership.
Michelob Ultra's 2021 spot features some of the most successful athletes from a variety of sporting arenas. The 60-second commercial includes appearances from 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams, four-time Majors winner Brooks Koepka, NBA championship winner Anthony Davis, two-time Super Bowl winner Peyton Manning, five-time NBA All-Star player Jimmy Butler and Women's World Cup champion Alex Morgan, per AdAge.
Michelob Ultra's commercial shows how big-time athletes spend their downtime
Michelob Ultra's star-studded spot pairs classic sports victory images with live action shots of athletes in their downtime. The theme of the commercial is that happiness and joy is what leads these athletes to success in their respective fields. Michelob Ultra's commercial features intimate moments with real-life friends and family of the athletes. "This is real, this is true, it's part of their lives, and it's a message that people need to hear. [Balance] is not only relevant for athletes, it's relevant for all of us in whatever we're doing," Ricardo Marquez, the vice president of marketing for Michelob Ultra, said of the commercial in a statement to AdWeek.
The commercial shows Anthony Davis playing chess and video games, Peyton Manning enjoying a beer and throwing darts with friends, Alex Morgan celebrating a ping pong victory, Brooks Koepka in a light-hearted water balloon fight, and Serena Williams dancing with friends. Of course, each of them is also shown enjoying a Michelob Ultra. As each athlete personifies the joy and happiness, the narrator asks, "What if joy is not just the end game, but the whole game?"
Needless to say, this isn't the first time a company has featured celebrities and athletes in a spot for the big game. Companies have a long history of featuring stars in their Super Bowl commercials as a way to rope in viewers, and Super Bowl LV is no exception.