At least one commercial will feature farmers while multiple others promote food
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Perhaps just as popular as the Super Bowl itself are the ads the TV audience sees between the action on the field.
For advertisers, Super Bowl commercials present an opportunity to reach millions of people (115 million Americans watched the game in 2023) at once.
They’re willing to pay big bucks too. Ad Age, a company that tracks marketing and media data, estimates companies pay up to $7 million for a 30-second commercial during the big game broadcast.
One of those ads will feature farmers.
Illinois Farm Families will have a commercial for its “We are the 96%” campaign for the second consecutive year.
The 30-second spot, titled “Career Path,” shows five families and helps illustrate how 96 percent of Illinois farms are family owned.
“What an honor it is to be able to represent this legacy and this lifestyle during the Super Bowl this month,” Marty Marr, a farmer from Morgan County who is in the commercial, told WCIA. “I’m only one example of what family farms in Illinois look like, but I know it is so important for all the non-farming families in Illinois to see our families and to understand that we are the ones growing their food and fuel.”
Viewers in Champaign, Peoria-Bloomington, Quad Cities, Quincy, Rockford, St. Louis and Harrisburg will be able to see it during the game, and it will be available online for everyone afterwards.
Other commercials may not feature traditional farming directly but use agriculture to deliver its message.
Take Pluto TV’s ad, for example.
The free streaming service’s commercial features a farmer tending to his crop of couch potatoes.
The commercial sees rows of people dressed in potato costumes enjoying the content available on the service.
“Looks like that Pluto TV romance channel has got those taters right in their feelings,” the farmer says.
Multiple other ads will promote food, drinks and snacks.
Viewers can expect to see commercials for Miller Lite, Bud Lite, Coors Light, Popeyes, M&Ms, Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Anyone interested in seeing some of the ads before the game can view them on YouTube.
And though ag may not feature heavily in some of the TV commercials, that doesn’t mean farmers don’t have their fingerprints all over Sunday’s big game.
The National Chicken Council, for example, estimates U.S. viewers will eat 1.45 billion wings during the game.
And prior to last year’s Super Bowl, SNAC International found that about 112 million pounds of snacks are consumed on Super Bowl Sunday alone.