WASHINGTON — It's that time of year again. Even if you aren't watching the Super Bowl to see the Chiefs duke it out with the 49ers, you can still watch just for the commercials.
Advertisers take the Super Bowl very seriously. They know around 1/3 of all Americans watch, and ads can go for millions of dollars. Because of that, advertisers often go all out, lining up celebrity-filled TV spots designed to raise interest in their products.
And luckily for anybody who wants a sneak peek, many of the brands release their ads online days or weeks before the big game.
Here's a look at some of the Super Bowl ads released so far:
Paramount Plus Super Bowl commercial
What do Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Patrick Stewart, Drew Barrymore, Arnold from "Hey Arnold" and Peppa Pig all have in common? They're all in the Paramount streaming service's new Super Bowl ad.
In the TV spot, the assorted characters are trapped on an icy glacier, unable to throw a rope to safety. When Tagovailoa says he could make the throw to the top, if there was a football.
Patrick Stewart suggests they use Arnold's football-shaped head to throw the rope all the way.
"We throw the child," the legendary actor plainly states.
Despite reservations from some of his fellow stranded explorers, Stewart gets into some old-timey football gear and throws a perfect spiral — straight into the wall...as Creed sings "Higher."
Lamenting his inability to throw just a few feet higher, Stewart out wishes for some "pigskin" to toss. The commercial ends with a pan to Peppa Pig, potentially their last hope to avoid freezing to death.
While a condensed version is likely to be played at the Super Bowl because even a 30-second ad can cost millions of dollars, the full commercial clocks in just under two minutes.
Google's Super Bowl LVIII ad
Google's heartstring-pulling ad follows a blind man as he uses “Guided Frame” — Google's AI-powered accessibility feature for the Pixel camera that uses a combination of audio cues, high-contrast animations and tactile vibrations — to take pictures of the people and places in his life.
M&M Super Bowl commercial with several NFL greats
Retired Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, Buffalo Bills’ Bruce Smith and wide receiver Terrell Owens never got a Super Bowl ring, but M&M’s and Scarlett Johansson present the “Almost Champions” ring to the almost winners.
OREO Super Bowl ad with Kris Jenner
In OREO's 30-second Super Bowl spot, the iconic chocolate sandwich cookie is imagined at big events throughout the past, helping people make important decisions that altered the course of history.
In ancient Troy, two guards decide to "twist on it" when a man shows up at their gate with the trojan horse -- cream on the right, they let him in. Whoops! We all know how that one turned out. An OREO also helps two UFO witnesses decide not to report their alien sighting.
Then in a flashback scene to pre-"Keeping Up with the Kardashians" days, Kris Jenner, matriarch of the Kardashian empire and long-time OREO fan, is on the phone.
"So every little detail about our family will be on TV?" she asks. "Who would watch that?"
Jenner says she'll "twist on it" to decide, and pulls the cookie apart, and appears to decide to go for it. "Hope you can keep up," she says.
Booking.com Super Bowl ad with Tina Fey
Actress Tina Fey has so many choices on the online travel agency booking.com site she has to hire body doubles: an influencer type played by her 30 Rock co-star, Jane Krakowski, to stay at a fancy hotel, a bigfoot handled by another 30 Rock co-star, Jack McBrayer, to stay at a cabin, and even actress Glenn Close, who stays on a farm.
Doritos Super Bowl ad with Jenna Ortega
Two grandmotherly women ("Dina" and “Mita”) chase after “Top Gun: Maverick” actor Danny Ramirez, who took the last bag of Doritos Dinamita from a store shelf, leaving actress Jenna Ortega behind.
Mountain Dew Baja Blast Super Bowl commercial with Aubrey Plaza
Aubrey Plaza is always having a blast, whether she is stuck in an elevator or being abducted by aliens — or reuniting with her “Parks and Rec” co-star Nick Offerman while riding dragons.
Starry Super Bowl commercial with Ice Spice
Starry is one of the first-time Super Bowl advertisers, hoping to make a splash and introduce consumers to their lemon-lime product. The ad itself features Ice Spice sitting with a pair of animated lemon and lime characters when she's approached by a man representing a soda she used to drink.
"I just needed something more refreshing, more crisp," she says. After the rejection, the spurned soda/lover's head explodes in a fountain of clear soda.
Pringles Super Bowl commercial with Chris Pratt
The Pringles ad features Chris Pratt sporting the chip mascot's iconic mustache. Once a cashier notices and posts about the 'stache, the race is on, with more people commenting about his striking resemblance to the Pringles man.
By the end of the spot, Pratt has starred in a movie about the Pringles mascot, alongside a mustachioed child in a wagon on the prairie. It ends with the same clerk from the beginning of the clip asking "do I get a cut?" Pratt then offers her a tube of Pringles.
Dove Super Bowl LVIII commercial
Dove's ad begins seemingly whimsically showing young girls having mishaps playing sports to the tune of "It’s the Hard Knock Life."
But the ad cuts starkly to a girl looking self-consciously in the mirror. The message: low body-confidence leads to girls quitting sports, not the mishaps.
Budweiser 2024 Super Bowl ad
In Anheuser-Busch's nostalgic spot, a snowstorm threatens to derail a delivery of Budweiser to a small-town bar. But a team of Clydesdales and a Labrador retriever team up to help Budweiser make the delivery.
Experts say the feel-good spot strikes the right chord for Anheuser-Busch, which is trying to win back consumer sentiment following last year’s conservative backlash against Bud Light after the brand sent a commemorative can to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Bud Light also angered supporters of transgender rights who felt it abandoned Mulvaney.
Bud Light Super Bowl commercial with Post Malone
Speaking of Bud Light, they've also released their Super Bowl ad, aiming for some low-stakes chuckles with their commercial. In the newly-released spot, dubbed "Easy Night Out," a group of friends is hanging out in a garage. As one cracks open a Bud Light from the refrigerator, he unleashes the Bud Light Genie.
"Wishes? Yeah, it's my thing," the Bud Light Genie says. Want to be filthy rich? No problem! Need a sweet new set of wheels? How about a stretch DeLorean limo ride to the bar, where Bud Light magically replenishes itself at the tables. As the night gets crazier and the genie keeps granting wishes, NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, Grammy nominee Post Malone and UFC CEO Dana White all make appearances.
T-Mobile Super Bowl spot with Jason Momoa
Jason Momoa shows off his singing chops in an ad that shows Scrubs duo Zach Braff and Donald Faison singing about T-Mobile home internet to the tune of “Flashdance ... What a Feeling." “Flashdance” star Jennifer Beals pops in to spray Momoa with water and ask him to sing it again — without his shirt.
Michelob ULTRA Super Bowl ad stars Lionel Messi and Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis
The Michelob commercial this year is pretty simple. While waiting for a beer at a beachside bar, Lionel Messi takes some time to have some fun with a soccer ball — namely dribbling circles around everybody else on the beach. It also features a brief cameo from "Ted Lasso" star Jason Sudeikis, who comments how the two of them "go way back."
At the end of the relaxingly low-key commercial, the bartender calls for the soccer icon to pick up his drink, and Messi kicks a goal into a volleyball net hanging between a pair of palm trees.
Hellmann's Super Bowl commercial
And a Hellmann's ad focusing on food waste starring Kate McKinnon features a cat that becomes a celebrity and dates Pete Davidson.
In the ad, McKinnon mistakes the cat's meow for the word "mayo," catapulting the "talking" cat to fame with a book deal, keynote speech and eventual red carpet moment with the former SNL cast member.
Kawasaki
A Kawasaki ad shows people riding in their Ridge “side by side” off-road vehicles growing mullets because the vehicle is “business in the front and a party in the back.”
The vehicle's ability to grow 80s hairstyles extends past the occupants, with a bald eagle and a tortoise also growing some luscious locks.
BetMGM
BetMGM, an online gambling site, begins its minute-long ad with actor Vince Vaughn telling viewers that the site is for everybody...except Tom Brady. Apparently, "you've won too much, Tommy, let others have their turn."
The ad explains that no matter what your relationship with the former all-time great quarterback — whether you used to babysit him, have a tattoo of him, are the "Tom Brady of spreadsheets" or cried when he left the Patriots — you're allowed to bet and (hopefully) win on BetMGM.
Uber Eats Super Bowl commercial with Jennifer Anniston, David Schwimmer, and David and Victoria Beckham
The ad for Uber Eats is all about being forgetful. From forgetting to put on pants in the morning to forgetting an old Friend, we all lose track of some things.
But the commercial, as it goes through the various forgetful scenarios, reminds watchers to always remember one thing: Uber Eats, because the delivery app has more than just food. You can get office supplies, flowers or beauty products through the app.
And isn't that worth forgetting something else to make room for?
DoorDash
The food delivery app's commercial is simple: they're offering to deliver everything (and yes, we mean everything) being advertised by the other ads during the big game, for free, to one lucky person.
In a teaser, DoorDash says they'll give out a promo code during their game-day ad, which can be redeemed here for a shot to win.
That means everything from Doritos to a new car to tax services. In fact, DoorDash doesn't know everything they're giving away for this promotion. "Who knows what else? We haven't fully thought this thing through," the teaser's narrator says.
Popeyes
Popeyes new it had to go big or go home for its first Super Bowl commercial.
The chicken chain's commercial, released on Feb. 6, features comedian and actor Ken Jeong trying Popeyes' new wings.
In the 60-second ad, Jeong is seen thawing out after he cryogenically froze himself in 1972. Jeong's character waited over 50 years for the "better" wing to be created.
Along with trying an array of Popeyes wings, Jeong goes on a venture to try all the things of the modern age: delivery drones, electric scooters, self-driving cars, robot vacuums and even goldendoodles.
Dunkin' Donuts
Ben Affleck and Dunkin' Donuts are a match made in heaven.
Affleck, who is the official brand ambassador for the coffee chain, returns for another Super Bowl ad this year.
In the minute-long teaser, Affleck is seen watching a news segment calling him the "boredest man in the world" as he sits beside his wife Jennifer Lopez.
The ad cuts to Affleck as he pursues his new dream of becoming a pop star. He's heading into studios, talking to producers and employing the help of TikTok star Charlie D'Amelio for some dance lessons.
Affleck is even seen pitching his "crazy" dream to JLO over the phone.