The game plan for the advertising blitz during Super Bowl XLIX was simple: Go straight for the heart.
Many of the commercials during NBC’s national broadcast of Sunday’s game sought to tug at viewers’ heart strings rather than make them burst out laughing. The offerings were not devoid of the usual mix of celebrities, animals and slapstick comedy, but ads celebrating fatherhood, happiness over hatred and public proclamations of love dominated.
“Finally, a more serious Super Bowl with a high dose of humanity on display,” said Adam Tucker, president of WPP’s Ogilvy & Mather advertising in New York.
A number of advertisers essentially rebranded Super Bowl Sunday into another celebration of Father’s Day. A spot for Unilever’s Dove Men + Care depicted a series of children, from toddlers to adults, calling out “Dad” and “Daddy” from a highchair, monkey bars and the dance floor at a wedding reception. “What makes a man stronger?” the ad asked. “Showing that he cares.” Ads for the automakers Nissan and Toyota also lauded fatherhood.
Mothers were not left out. A commercial for McDonald’s opened with a cashier telling a customer that instead of handing over money for his hash browns and coffee, he could pay by calling his mother and telling her he loved her. The spot kicked off a promotion at the fast-food chain, which will randomly select customers to “Pay With Lovin’ ” rather than cash or credit starting Monday through Valentine’s Day.
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But the advertisers will vie for attention from a band of outside marketers who did not pay for Super Bowl time but are trying to ambush the competition. One is Newcastle beer, which recruited dozens of marketers to pitch in for a Super Bowl spot that will be shown online and in local markets during the game.
The other is the automaker Volvo, which decided not to buy a Super Bowl spot this year. Instead, the brand has begun an “interception” campaign and is encouraging viewers to tweet the name of someone who matters to them with the tag #volvointerception when they see any car commercial during the game for the chance to win a new Volvo.
An earlier version of this article misstated the length of a Coca-Cola commercial. It is 60 seconds, not 30 seconds.
A version of this article appears in print on February 2, 2015, on page B3 of the New York edition with the headline: Super Bowl Commercials Go for Heart, Not Just Funny Bone and Jugular. Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe
