• by Wayne Friedman , February 11, 2022

Although the cost of TV commercials airing during the big game is very high, the majority of the 2022 Super Bowl commercials -- 66% -- score just “average” results, according to Kantar.

“[The data shows] how in such an extraordinarily competitive environment, even with high production values and celebrity cache, it’s very difficult to achieve breakthrough,” said Kerry Benson, Kantar’s North American Content Analytics Practice Lead, in a release.

Data from the consumer research and analytics company was processed after running all pre-released Super Bowl 2022 ads through artificial intelligence platform Link AI, which predicts the creative effectiveness of TV ads in 15 minutes.

Kantar said the commercials were measured for their potential for brand equity and the ability to boost sales. It categorized the messaging against their creative database into three categories: strong, average, and poor.

The cost of this year’s Super Bowl spots is as high as $6.5 million for a 30-second commercial -- with creative production costs that can also go into the millions.

For example, 70% of all pre-released ads include celebrities this year -- versus 60% for last year’s game. Advertisers paid for A-list talent: This Super Bowl will see ads featuring 13 Academy Award-nominated or winning actors, and 15 Emmy Award-nominated or winning actors.

Kantar says last year’s game had Super Bowl ads featuring celebrities that lifted brand equity 20% higher than ads without celebrities.

Big-time talent this year includes: Scarlett Johansson and her husband Colin Jost in an Amazon Alexa spot; Mila Kunis and Demi Moore (AT&T); Selma Hayek and Arnold Schwarzenegger (BMW); Lindsay Lohan and William Shatner (Planet Fitness). Serena Williams, Peyton Manning and other top actors/performers (Michelob Ultra).

The best-performing commercials include:

Nissan’s “Thrill Driver”, featuring Eugene Levy, who in many roles has appeared as an average parent, is transformed into an action-movie hero with Brie Larson and the help of a Nissan Ariya 2023.

Another commercial -- Hellmann’s “Mayo Tackles Food Waste” -- shows a football coach Jerod Mayo tackling people who waste food -- including Pete Davidson, who is on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”

Doritos/Cheetos “Push It from Flamin’ Hot” has singers Megan Thee Stallion and Charlie Puth as voices of creatures in the jungle who discover and dance. Sam’s Club “VIP” shows Kevin Hart who believes that Sam’s Club wrongly believes the chain gives him VIP treatment.