For example, Coca-Cola’s 1980 advertisement, which featured footballer Joe Greene, helped solidify its then-catchphrase: “Have a Coke and a smile”. Many ads followed suit, hiring A-list celebrities to boost product appeal, such as Michael Jordan in the 1993 Nike ad or Chris Pratt in the upcoming Pringles ad.

Iconic ads like these are still made, but the likelihood of “breaking through” is narrowing. RMIT marketing academic Dr Daniel Rayne says the main approach to advertising – featuring big-name celebrities – has become somewhat predictable for current audiences.

“Low-budget, minimalist ads that don’t call on celebrity appeal, that’s the new iconic form of communicating with audiences,” Rayne says.

Recently, a Super Bowl ad for Coinbase simply presented a QR code flicking across the screen. Rayne says this could be particularly successful with younger generations, who are usually more receptive to short-form social media-style content.

Despite these different approaches, Super Bowl ads remain a traditional form of advertising within a saturated and fragmented media space.

“We usually receive around 5– 10,000 marketing messages every day. We’re so inundated now, it’s very hard for brands to stand out from the clutter,” Rayne says.

RMIT professor of marketing Con Stavros agrees. “When the Super Bowl started in 1967, the ads had to be big, impactful, cinematic,” Stavros says. “Now, they’re more like one or two-week extravaganzas, geared towards long-term engagement.”

This usually includes a significant (and expensive) social media campaign in which brands tease their ad ahead of game day or release follow-up material afterwards. This year’s Super Bowl isn’t until Monday, but ads for Doritos, Bud Light and protein company Silk have already been widely reported.

With so much competition, today’s ads tend to err on the side of caution, Stavros says. “They don’t want to do anything controversial because if the social media buzz is just about how distasteful the ad is, it could quickly derail.”

Heath echoes this, noting Pepsi’s 2017 ad, dubbed the “Kendall Jenner Cures Racism” commercial.

“The ad rather tastelessly suggests drinking a Pepsi has the power to diffuse what looks like a Black Lives Matter protest. This didn’t go down well,” Heath says, adding that the company suffered immediate losses.

Regardless, Stavros says these ads remain the “unicorns” of the industry. “People spend their entire lives trying to avoid ads. The Super Bowl is one of very few things people will specifically watch for the ads.”

But will they still be worthwhile for brands in the next five or 10 years? “Probably less likely. It’s just becoming less compelling.”

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