• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, February 12, 2024

Snickers, in partnership with The Mars Agency and augmented reality company Blippar, showed the world on Super Bowl LVIII Sunday what immersive advertising looks like. The brand launched the world's first branded AR Super Bowl campaign on the Apple Vision Pro spatial computer as part of its NFL Rookie Mistake franchise.

Those without an Apple Vision Pro can access the AR experience through a website on their mobile device. The part of the campaign that runs on the Apple Vision Pro launched on Sunday, for Super Bowl LVIII.

Apple’s device is set to become the next shiny object for advertisers. Its virtual reality headset combines digital content and apps with the user’s physical space. Apple reportedly secured about 5,000 patents when building it.

While wearing the headset, the user does not look directly at the room they are in, but rather a live video feed from tiny cameras on the headset. It runs software, offers game play, and the ability to view movies. It has 12 cameras, two infrared beams and receivers, six microphones, and a Lidar scanner.

Apple’s device demonstrates to brands the future of advertising through AR and the possibilities of generative artificial intelligence (GAI). In this world, a user’s eyes become the mouse or the gaming stick, and human gestures like pinching two fingers together become the trigger to initiate the action.

Spatial computing relies on AI, computer vision, augmented and virtual reality, and other technologies to blend virtual experiences with the physical world. It allows users to interact with each other along with virtual images, sounds, and accelerations processed by a device, all contributing to real-time perceptions.

Snickers’ latest collaboration with Blippar marks the second consecutive year that the two, along with The Mars Agency, have run the NFL “Rookie Mistake” AR campaign. The activation last year featured Buffalo Bills player Stefon Diggs. Snickers launched its “Rookie Mistake” platform in 2021 as a way for the Mars brand to engage consumers throughout the football season.

Keith Curtin, chief revenue officer at Blippar, said the company plans to integrate GAI into some of its forthcoming campaigns scheduled for release in the spring. 

He said the company’s AR content authoring software now works on Apple Vision Pro, as well as Meta Quest, and Magic Leap.

“As more AR glasses come into the market, Blippar will continue to allow developers to simply build once and deploy everywhere,” Curtin said.  

The company introduced an AR ad unit in December 2023 to better support brands that want to use the technology. The lure for advertisers is to get consumers immersed in their products and services within the ad without leaving the webpage or dowloading an application.

The ads use both the front- and rear-facing cameras on a device to launch creative as immersive content.