• by Maarten Albarda , Featured Contributor, January 5, 2024

Happy new year! We Albardas have taken down all the Christmas decorations, kickstarted our healthy eating and Dry January challenges, and have fully embraced that it’s 2024 now. Or so we tell ourselves.

Advertising and marketing have moved on from the holidays, too. The first Valentine’s Day merchandise and ads are out, and many marketers are gearing up for the 2024 Super Bowl.

Ah, the Super Bowl. Remember the ads from last year? Remember how they completely changed your brand perception and buying behavior? Yeah, they didn’t do that for me, either. 

I know, I know: There have been fabulously memorable and truly business-transforming  Super Bowl ads. I know this because I placed quite a few of them in the past.

What I also remember, and what I want to talk about today, is the overuse of certain sports athletes and celebrities. In my list of overused athletes are Shaquille O’Neal, Serena Williams, LeBron James, Travis Kelce, Peyton Manning, Steph Curry and Lionel Messi. Let me know who’s on your list.

If you are a marketer and use any of these big names, you’re mostly enhancing their brand stature, not your own. Many of these top billers have multiple ads for multiple brands, and so it becomes a bit of a blur to figure out if you’re being advertised at for The General insurance, Papa John’s pizza or Pepsi (I’m looking at you, Shaq).

Per TV ad spot tracking service iSpot: “In the past 30 days, commercials featuring Shaquille O'Neal have had 1,058,717 airings.” And that number is accomplished not during a Super Bowl or Olympic or even NBA Finals season!

Don’t get me wrong: Shaq is an excellent pitchman. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be in demand as much. But over one million airings in 30 days? I’m guessing that many politicians would be jealous of such a statistic.

I assume that responsible advertisers using these big-name athlete spokespeople do their homework: They have tested celebrities' suitability and appeal, and know what the ROI is of buying the athletes’ services, shooting that expensive commercial, and placing it on air with sufficient weight to stand out. But I have my doubts.

I’m a big believer in the power of stories. If your ad has something interesting, original, new, or different to tell, and can do so in an arresting fashion, you’ll beat any celebrity inclusion.

The Coca-Cola Company invested in Christopher Storer, creator and showrunner of Hulu’s hit “The Bear,” who recreated the now-famous cacophony that was the show’s holiday episode “Fishes.” There are a few familiar comedy faces in the commercial, but no true celebrities. The story and the style in which it is filmed are the heroes.

Chevy this year had a beautiful tear-jerker for the holidays featuring a grandmother suffering from memory loss. Again, no celebrities, but Chevy crushed it for emotional engagement.

Going back in time, of course we remember the classics like Apple’s “1984” and Budweiser’s “Whassup?”

If you’re a Super Bowl advertiser, it’s probably too late to rethink your 2024 Shaq or Serena commercial. But I’d think twice going forward. If your brand story is not strong enough to stand on its own legs without the crutch of a celebrity, perhaps you should rebrief your creative team.