CLEVELAND, Ohio - When the Super Bowl rolls around Sunday, Feb. 4, the usual barrage of ads will aim to entertain the masses. If last year's game is any indication, we can expect celebrities to hawk products, commercials that try to make us laugh, and a whole bunch of television shows being touted.
In 2017, the New England Patriots came from behind to defeat the Atlanta Falcons, 34-28, in overtime. The game aired on Fox. We examined 109 ads, breaking them down in these areas:
* Company / product: 50.4 percent.
* Media (movies, TV shows, gaming): 30 percent.
* Automotive (including auto-related companies): 11.5 percent.
* Promotions: 7.9 percent.
Other findings:
* Among the ads, 27 - almost a quarter - used humor to some extent.
* A celebrity appeared in 18 commercials to push a message. In total, a minimum of 30 celebrities were seen in all of the Super Bowl spots in 2017.
* Two of the television shows - "24 Legacy" and "APB" - were cancelled months after the game.
* One spot from Honda hit multiple categories: The talking-yearbook ad included a host of celebrities, a dash of humor and a positive message to hawk the automaker's CR-V.
* Local, or zoned, ads that were shown in Northeast Ohio are noted in the list below.
* There were 29 breaks after the coin toss to the end of regulation: A lot of opportunities to be mildly entertained, or to go to the bathroom.
MORE: During the 2016 game, we charted 116 ads from National Anthem to the beginning of the post-game analysis.
This year's game will air on NBC. Price of a 30-second ad is reportedly topping $5 million.
"Super Bowl Ads," a study that will be published in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science, was co-authored by researchers from Stanford University and Humboldt University in Germany. Stanford University professor and economist Wesley Hartmann spent years examining the topic. The study focuses on the relationship between Super Bowl viewership and corresponding sales of brands advertised in the game.
The question, Hartmann said - and we all wonder - is: "Do these things pay off?"
The answer is both yes and no.
"It looks like they can work so long as you are not facing direct competition and that they create an association between your brand and a consumption occasion - like drinking beverages while you are watching sports."
He added: "The fascinating thing we find is ... if you're a really well-known brand like Budweiser or Coca-Cola why do you need to blow all this money on the Super Bowl? What are you really hoping to gain by doing this advertising?"
One thing that can be quantified, Hartmann said, is looking at "what people are buying in the supermarket stocking up for the party."
"Pepsi sells really well for the Super Bowl," he said. "It's hard to find if people are buying more Coke for their Super Bowl parties. I think that's a little bit of a puzzle. The question is to say different brands perform well under different scenarios."
Hartmann says Budweiser does well with sales, thanks to its exclusivity during the game. That might be due to "building some sort of attachment" - like with Spuds MacKenzie, the laid-back Bull Terrier made famous in 1980s ads for Bud. The pooch was featured in a spot during last year's game.
"We remember," Hartmann said. "Budweiser had that ability to plant the image in our consciousness over time." The same holds true for a specific truck brand trying to get the message across that their vehicle is meant for rugged conditions, he said.
But when it comes to soda, things are a bit different.
Hartmann started his analysis around 2006, a time when Pepsi was in the game but Coke was not (the company has since returned).
When they advertise in the same game, they can "cancel each other out," he said.
If you're the sole advertiser in a particular sector, "You can be pretty successful, but if you're head to head it might be the two of you putting money down the toilet."
Another finding Hartmann noticed that stands out between brand and sports is an "uptick" in viewership in regions near one of the competing teams. As an example, when the San Francisco 49ers made it to the Super Bowl in 2013 after an 18-year hiatus, it affected advertising in certain California markets.
"If the ads work you'll see an uptick (of a brand's sales) in that area," Hartmann said. "Different cities are being turned on by teams that make it in."
So you might see a sales increase in Product X in the city whose team is in the game, at least for a while. Other events also affect the ebb, like March Madness and Major League Baseball season starting, he said.
It's all about "creating a link from your brand and watching sports more broadly," Hartmann said.
The 2017 Super Bowl LI ads:
Coin toss
1. Ford technology - auto
Kickoff
2. Google Home - product / company
3. Michelin - auto
4. Avocados from Mexico - product / company
Game
5. Mobile Strike game - media
6. H&R Block technology - product / company
7. Skittles - product / company
Game
8. Busch - product / company
9. American Petroleum Institute pro-oil message - promotions
10. Godaddy.com - product / company
Game
11. LifeWtr - product / company
12. Intel 360 - product / company
13. #weaccept - promotions
14. World of Tanks game - media
15. Yellow Tail wine - product / company
Game
16. Pirates of the Caribbean 5 "Pirate's Life" movie - media
17. Pistachios - product / company
18. Buick - product / company
Game
19. "Logan" movie - media
20. T-Mobile One - product / company
21. NFL message - promotions
Game
22. Honda's talking yearbook - auto
23. Bai - product / company
24. "Transformers: The Last Knight" movie - media
Game
25. Tide - product / company
26. Sprint - product / company
27. "24 Legacy" television show - media
Game
28. Coca-Cola - product / company
29. "A Handmaid's Tale" - media
30. WeatherTech - auto
31. Febreze - product / company
Game
32. Alfa Romeo - auto
33. Michelob Ultra - product / company
Game
34. TurboTax - product / company
35. Lexus - auto
36. "The Fate of the Furious" movie - media
Game
37. squarespace.com - product / company
38. Wendy's - product / company
39. "24 Legacy" television show - media
Halftime
40. "APB" television show - media
41. Honda (local) - auto
42. Marco's Pizza (local) - product / company
43. Nissan - auto
44. Cleveland Clinic (local) - product / company
45. AT&T - product / company
46. Fox 8 promo with Amanda Berry (local) - media
Halftime coverage
47. journey84.com - product / company
Halftime coverage
48. "Empire" television show - media
49. "Legion" television show - media
Halftime coverage
50. Intel - product / company
51. "Genius" television show - media
52. "Feud" television series - media
53. Planet Fitness - product / company
54. Don't drink and drive message - promotions
55. McDonald's - product / company
56. Wayside furniture (local) - product / company
57. Planet Fitness - product / company
58. Fox 8 promo - media (local)
Halftime coverage
59. NFL promo - promotions
60. "Feud" television series - media
61. "24 Legacy" television show - media
62. Time Warner-Spectrum (local) - product / company
63. Positive Coaching Alliance message - promotions
Halftime coverage
64. Audi's equal-pay message - auto
65. Mr. Clean - product / company
66. "24 Legacy" television show - media
67. Snickers - product / company
Game
68. Anheuser-Busch "when nothing stops your dream" - product / company
69. T-Mobile product / company
70. Persil cleaner - product / company
Game
71. Kia crossover - auto
72. It's a 10 hair care - product / company
73. "Stranger Things" television show - media
Game
74. "A cure for wellness" movie - media
75. Evony game - media
76. "The Walking Dead" television show - media
77. Fiji water - product / company
78. NFL technology message - promotions
Game
79. "Baywatch" movie - media
80. Alfa Romeo - auto
81. T-Mobile - product / company
82. Daytona 500 promotion - media
83. "Genius" television show - media
Game
84. NFL promo - promotions
85. Mr. Hero (local) - product / company
86. KeyBank (local) - product / company
87. Kent State University (local) - product / company
88. Fox 8 promo with Amanda Berry (local) - media
Game
89. wix.com - product / company
90. Amazon echo - product / company
91. Turkish Airlines - product / company
92. Amazon echo - product / company
93. King's Hawaiian foods - product / company
94. Amazon echo - product / company
95. "Legion" television show - media
Game
96. Anheuser-Busch Spuds McKenzie - product / company
Game
97. Verizon - product / company
98. Nintendo Switch - product / company
99. NFL promo - promotions
100. "24 Legacy" television show - media
Game
101. Mercedes - auto
102. Nascar promo - media
103. "24 legacy" television show - media
Game
104. Alfa Romeo - auto
105. Sprite - product / company
106. KFC - product / company
107. Tide - product / company
108. "24 Legacy" television show - media
109. "APB" television show - media
Regulation ends - overtime
110. "A Handmaid's Tale" television series - media
111. Sprint - product / company
112. Proactiv facial cleaner - product / company
113. SoFi loan refinancing - product / company
Overtime, game ends
One other aspect Hartmann notes: In terms of socially conscious messages that have made a splash in recent years - think nomore.org's chilling anti-domestic-violence ads and Tim Tebow's pro-life message - Hartmann said "these themes pop up every so often." But "as the price of these ads really accelerate who can afford to bring these messages through? Either they are sponsored by large brands or they are being sponsored by the NFL."