Super Bowl Alert: Game day edition

Final ad tally

It seems more Super Bowl advertisers are looking to surprise viewers this year. There were 35 pre-released commercials this year, compared with 43 last year. Watch them all here.

You won’t get to see commercials from Huggies, DoorDash, E-Trade, DraftKings, T-Mobile, Verizon, Jeep, Hellmann’s or Fiverr until they air in the game. What’s more, just about 53 ad slots are accounted for, according to Ad Age’s tally. Last year there were around 60 national ads (this does not include promo ads run by the network airing the game).

What we do know … who won’t be advertising. Super Bowl stalwarts Budweiser, Coke, Pepsi, Hyundai and Kia, among others, are sitting on the sidelines. This is the first time Budweiser won’t air a Super Bowl commercial in 37 years. We will certainly miss the Clydesdales and puppies, so we relived some of our favorite ads from the brewer here.

You can re-watch these commercials and more in Ad Age’s extensive Super Bowl ad archive.

There will be far fewer car ads in the Super Bowl this year, with four automakers running five ads. Last year, six automakers consumed a total of seven minutes and 30 seconds of airtime.

Unsurprisingly, there also won’t be very many trailers for blockbuster films, as many new movies continue to be delayed. Currently, we only have Walt Disney Studios confirmed to air a spot.  

And one category currently completely absent is travel, with no indication of any hotels or airlines planning on airing ads.

These brands will be replaced by at least 21 first-time Super Bowl advertisers, including Huggies, Chipotle, Scotts Miracle-Gro and Indeed. This is up from 11 newbies last year.

For the most current look at all the marketers confirmed to air national spots in Super Bowl LV, check out our Super Bowl ad chart.