Facebook to Run First Super Bowl Ad, Featuring Chris Rock and Sylvester Stallone
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Facebook has enlisted Hollywood stars Chris Rock and Sylvester Stallone for its first-ever Super Bowl ad, set to air during Fox’s Feb. 2, 2020 telecast.
The 60-second spot will highlight Facebook Groups, which lets users create specific communities for people to interact directly with each other.
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“Facebook for the first time is advertising during the Super Bowl with its ‘More Together’ campaign showcasing how people from different backgrounds come together over shared interests and experiences, all through Facebook Groups,” a company rep said in a statement to Variety. “With cameo appearances from Chris Rock and Sylvester Stallone, the spot drives home the message that for whatever you rock, there is a Facebook group for you.” The full campaign will be revealed on Feb. 2 during the Super Bowl LIV broadcast.
Variety reported last month that Fox sold out its ad inventory for Super Bowl LIV, unusually early for broadcasters in recent years to be fully booked for the NFL championship matchup, garnering over $5 million and up to $5.6 million for 30-second ad slots.
Stallone shot part of Facebook’s Super Bowl LIV ad this week in Philly in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the setting for the famous scene in his original “Rocky” movie. Stallone tweeted Tuesday, “It was fantastic working with @chrisrock. We got along great. Admire his wit… @Facebook did a great job producing, and it is going to be amazingly entertaining at #SuperBowlLIV.”
Facebook’s Super Bowl commercial, created with ad agency Wieden + Kennedy, is part of the company’s “More Together” branding campaign launched earlier this year under CMO Antonio Lucio, a veteran of HP, Pepsi and Visa who joined Facebook in the summer of 2018.
Super Bowl LIV will be the biggest stage to date for Facebook’s continuing efforts are burnishing its reputation, which has been scarred in recent years after a series of privacy scandals and calls to break up the massive internet company to curb its power. Among recent controversies, Facebook has steadfastly refused to reject political ads that include falsehoods.
Other marketers set to run ads in next year’s Super Bowl include Coca-Cola, marking its return after sitting out in 2019, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Audi, Hyundai, Kia and Avocados From Mexico,
Separately, this fall Facebook has run a campaign featuring the Muppets promoting its Portal video-calling and streaming device, in ads created with agency Anomaly L.A. The company also cut a product-placement deal with ABC to feature Portal on the network’s shows.
In the first half of 2019, Facebook spent $97.3 million in advertising, about 64% of which (nearly $62.7 million) was on TV advertising, according to media-measurement firm Kantar.
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