Touching Down in Celeb Town: Strategies for Super Bowl Success

In part 1 of this blog series, we explored one of the most popular Super Bowl advertising strategies: leveraging celebrity spokespersons and how they stack up to brand-owned characters. Over the last 30 years, there has been a decline in the use of ‘fluent devices,’ a term coined by System1’s Chief Innovation Officer Orlando Wood. A fluent device is a recurring character or recurring scenario expressed as a slogan, which brands leverage to quickly drive recognition and emotional engagement.
Many of this year’s Super Bowl advertisers will once again opt for famous athletes, singers, actors and other influencers in the hopes of entertaining audiences. We’ve spent years analyzing hundreds of Super Bowl ads to uncover the keys to effectiveness. The good news: celebrities can help brands in both the short term and long term. The better news: we understand how to do it best.
3 Tips for Star-studded Success
Last year, celebrity appearances in Super Bowl ads reached an all-time high, featuring in 50% of all commercials. It’s clear this trend will continue, as celebrities have become an almost inevitable feature of the Big Game. The challenge, then, is how to maximize their commercial impact.
While we’ve previously discussed the benefits of using character-driven devices, celebrities—when used strategically—can deliver significant short-term and long-term rewards. In fact, ads featuring celebrities tend to generate stronger business effects on average than those without, as Orlando Wood highlighted in his work with the IPA. Although brand characters often deliver even larger results, they aren’t always a viable option for every brand.
So, without further ado, here are three winning strategies to elevate your celebrity game and score big this Super Bowl.
1. Authenticity Drives Action
In his research with the IPA, Orlando Wood explored the features that make ads emotionally engaging—those that appeal to our broad-beam attention, capturing and sustaining our focus. When it comes to celebrities in advertising, these features are especially crucial. Traditional approaches, like straightforward “testimonials” or talking directly into the camera, often fail to resonate with audiences, limiting commercial impact.
Instead, the most effective ads featuring celebrities incorporate the following:
- Show them in a context they are known and loved for.
Audiences connect more deeply when celebrities are placed in familiar, authentic roles that highlight their established personas.
- Use celebrities who are popular and widely recognized, rather than niche.
Broad appeal ensures the ad resonates with the largest audience possible, maximizing engagement.
- Feature them within a story, where they display agency, humanity, and vitality.
A well-crafted narrative allows celebrities to feel relatable and dynamic, enhancing emotional impact and brand connection.
Additionally, System1 and Fuse’s research into sports sponsorship, titled The Sport Dividend highlights key strategies for effectively using sporting personalities, such as NFL players, in Super Bowl campaigns. The findings reveal that featuring players in explicit sporting contexts drives, on average, a +0.7 Star Rating uplift. Ads that include professional match footage—rather than training montages or casual at-home clips—see an additional +0.5 Star uplift. Similar to Hollywood celebrities, audiences prefer to see their sports heroes in environments they’re known and celebrated for. In the case of NFL players, this means competitive, action-packed American football moments that resonate with fans and amplify emotional engagement.
So, back to Paul Rudd. Is he a fan favorite, or has he simply been featured well in ads? The answer lies in the latter. Take Lay’s 2022 Super Bowl campaign, for example, which earned an impressive 3.7 Star Rating and an exceptional short-term Spike Rating. The ad leverages Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen’s well-known comedic personas and long-standing friendship. The pair have shared the screen frequently, both on and off camera, making them a natural Super Bowl duo. Add to that their universal appeal as stars of family-friendly comedies, and the foundation is already strong.
Lay’s doesn’t ignore these realities—they lean into them. The ad cleverly integrates a bag of Lay’s chips into key comedic moments and shared memories between the two, creating a humorous and relatable narrative. It’s a perfect example of how star power, when paired with authentic storytelling, can drive significant commercial impact.
2. Cultural Cues Capture Engagement
Another broad-beam feature proven to drive engagement and business impact is the use of cultural cues. This includes references to pop culture, film, art, or even the socioeconomic zeitgeist. And what better time to unite audiences through culture than during one of the most prominent cultural events of the year? It’s culture upon culture—an effective way to amplify resonance and relevance.
Celebrities are naturally primed to fit into these cultural moments, as they often play a significant role in shaping them. Rather than simply slotting a celebrity into a Super Bowl campaign, savvy brands integrate their product into iconic movie or TV references.
Take Oreo’s 2024 campaign, for example. The brand humorously credited Kris Jenner and the Kardashian clan’s monumental success to one simple act: Kris twisting open an Oreo. This playful nod to the cultural phenomenon of Keeping Up with the Kardashians cleverly ties Oreo to a pop culture moment that feels both timely and iconic.
Another standout example is Jeep’s 2020 ad, “Groundhog Day.” A spin on the beloved 1993 classic starring Bill Murray, the ad expertly reimagines scenes from the cult film to feature the Jeep Gladiator. As one of the highest-grossing films of its time, Groundhog Day carries broad, mass appeal, making it the perfect cultural reference to leverage during an event as universally celebrated as the Super Bowl.
3. Lay Consistent Foundations
For brands that don’t plan to use the same celebrity year after year, incorporating a consistent thread into your Super Bowl advertising is key. This could take the form of a recurring scenario (also referred to as a scenario fluent device), a signature tone, a recognizable soundtrack, or even pairing celebrities with brand characters. This strategy not only ensures your creativity benefits from the compounding rewards of familiarity year after year, but it also helps maintain high brand fluency by keeping the focus on your brand rather than the celebrity. Additionally, it creates a sturdy foundation for future campaigns—allowing you to transition seamlessly to regular characters or brand mascots without having to reinvent the wheel should you decide to move away from celebrity features down the line.
Take M&M’s 2024 Super Bowl ad, for example. The brand blended the star power of Scarlett Johansson with their iconic M&M’s troupe, seamlessly integrating both elements. In the world of advertising, you can truly have your cake and eat it too. When you’re not bound by the constraints of “either-or,” why not leverage the best of both worlds to maximize resonance and impact?
One brand which has demonstrated consistent foundations perfectly is Paramount+, who show up every year with a set of celebrities and animated characters taking on the frost of Paramount mountain. While not a character, the mountain itself is a fluent device or recognized brand code, one which they incorporate regularly and consistently. Since 2021, this strategy has earned the brand a +0.8 increase in Star Rating and launched them from modest to exceptional short-term sales potential. The setting is quickly distinguishable as Paramount and the strong foundations enable flexibility for them to showcase the different characters and shows you can expect to find on their platform.
Create with Confidence
Every year, System1 helps brands prepare for the Super Bowl by testing everything from early-stage concepts to finished films. This process ensures that you can pre-test ideas with real consumers to maximize the commercial potential of your campaigns, all with expert guidance and actionable recommendations along the way.
In 2022, Boston Beer Company partnered with System1 to refine their Big Game spot, focusing on key elements like soundtrack, character, and story. The result? Their ad, “Boston Dynamics,” achieved the highest Star Rating of all Super Bowl ads that year, with exceptional scores across the board for additional measures like Spike and Fluency.
If you’re looking to score an advertising touchdown, pre-testing is a must. Want to ensure your celebrity is the perfect fit or find ways to better integrate them into the narrative? Need to tweak dialogue or ensure your brand—not theirs—is the star of the show? Perhaps you’re launching a new brand character and want to benchmark its effectiveness ahead of its big debut? No problem—System1 can help you make it happen.
Contact our team today to make sure your Super Bowl campaign delivers unforgettable impact.
Don’t miss our report, “How to Win the Super Bowl,” filled with insights on developing winning creative.