New York:

The Super Bowl is right around the corner, which means millions of Americans will sit down and enjoy a national passion on Sunday: watching television commercials. The NFL season finale—Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers—is the biggest event of the year in the U.S. advertising industry.

By 2023, companies will spend an average of $7 million to appear in front of an audience of 115 million for 30 seconds.

This year, big brands face the big challenge of competing with superstar Taylor Swift, who will fly out from a concert in Tokyo to see her boyfriend perform.

Her romance with Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce is expected to boost ratings to record levels, with teens and tweens finding a seat on the family couch to watch their hero in the luxury box for Come on her man.

Advertisers pay crazy money because the Super Bowl is one of the rare moments when a politically divided and culturally divided nation comes together before a show.

“No other medium can reach more than 100 million viewers at the same time,” said Charles Taylor, a marketing professor at Villanova University.

“It’s like in the past advertisers could reach most of the United States with an ad campaign. Today, we have no other venue that can do that,” he added.

Star-studded

Advertising agencies are doing their best to avoid sparking a culture war that could put brands in the crossfire.

Last year, Bud Light found itself the target of a right-wing boycott after it collaborated with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney on social media.

Playing it safe in Super Bowl ads usually means middling celebrities are funny (or at least give it an honest try), and this year’s ads are filled with stars whipping up brands in laugh-filled ads.

Uber Eats locations were packed with Friends stars Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer, as well as British super couple David and Victoria Beckham.

Lionel Messi, now playing for Inter Miami, is the star of the Michelob Lite ad, which also features NFL legends Dan Marino and “Ted Russo” Stars Jason Sudeikis.

Buoyed by last year’s controversy, Bud Light’s locations are mostly within the foreseeable confines of a sports bar. Celebrity appearances include tattooed rapper Post Malone, who will perform “America the Beautiful” at Sunday’s game.

Also taking no risks is a Budweiser ad that features the brand’s iconic Clydesdale horse delivering kegs of beer during a snowstorm.

Typically, ads will feature additional items that viewers will want to engage with during the three-hour game.

In Pringles, mustachioed “Guardians of the Galaxy” star Chris Pratt plays a man who resembles the potato chip company’s mascot.

“Wednesdays” star Jenna Ortega outsmarted two grandmothers by stuffing herself with super spicy Doritos on set.

‘wonderful’

The Taylor Swift effect is influencing advertising, with women-centric products playing a bigger role.

NYX Professional makeup company says it will be selling the product under Cardi B.

Soap brand Dove is showing an advert focusing on how a poor self-image can lead girls to quit sport.

Big tech companies will also be on display, and artificial intelligence won’t entirely replace cryptocurrencies, which have used the Super Bowl in recent years to stifle companies that later went bankrupt.

Microsoft is launching its new Copilot chatbot, while Google is trying to touch people’s hearts with ads showing off the wonders its Pixel phones can do for blind people.

For Derek Rucker, a marketing professor at Northwestern University, Sunday viewers will still watch ads faithfully, even with the Swift circus.

The pop star is “great” but “when ad time comes… people want and are willing to watch and talk about the ads,” he told AFP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)