Super Bowl LV isn’t just the first modern-era game with Roman numerals that don’t require a lookup. It’s also the first NFL championship to have limited-capacity seating in the stadium, which means more people watching live at home.
For a few major brands in America, this Super Bowl is a first as well. For Chipotle and Hellmann’s, who both released Super Bowl ads this month, LV is their inaugural step into the game-day spotlight. But other major brands are doing the opposite. Budweiser is one of the numerous companies that are benching usual airtime in order to promote awareness of the COVID-19 vaccine.
CivicScience asked Americans what they thought about companies like Budweiser, Coke, and Pepsi pulling their Super Bowl ads, and 69% of those 18 and up supported the initiative.
NFL fans are significantly more supportive than non-NFL fans, and the more likely someone is to watch the Super Bowl this year, the greater their support of the decisions made by advertisers.
Supporters also over-index as ready to get the COVID-19 vaccine now. Opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine is heavily concentrated among those who also oppose companies pulling their Super Bowl spots to support the vaccine.
And lastly, looking at favorability of the three brands mentioned above, we see that Budweiser fans show the greatest opposition to the companies removing their Super Bowl ads.
While some brands have chosen to miss out on the traditional publicity they always receive on a Sunday in February, the majority of Americans think what these companies are doing is great — that has to account for something.
