{"id":22738,"date":"2022-12-12T14:01:39","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T14:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/12\/downy-returns-to-super-bowl-after-11-year-absence\/"},"modified":"2022-12-12T14:01:39","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T14:01:39","slug":"downy-returns-to-super-bowl-after-11-year-absence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/12\/downy-returns-to-super-bowl-after-11-year-absence\/","title":{"rendered":"Downy Returns to Super Bowl After 11-Year Absence"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Super Bowl just got a little bit more aromatic. <\/p>\n

Downy is returning to the Big Game for the first time in 11 years. The Procter & Gamble brand will promote its Unstopables product.<\/p>\n

The 30-second ad will air during the second quarter and feature a celebrity who is a skeptic of Unstopables\u2019 12-week freshness guarantee. The only problem is we don\u2019t know the identity of the celebrity. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we find is consumers have a hard time believing that Downy Unstoppables could actually last as long as the the brand claims that it can last,\u201d said Jenny Maxwell, P&G\u2019s senior brand director of North America Fabric Care. \u201cWe thought what better thing to do than launch our Super Bowl ad way ahead of the Super Bowl.\u201d<\/p>\n

To start the two-month long guessing game, Downy is dropping a 30-second teaser clip of a hoodie-covered celebrity hiding their identity until the Super Bowl to see if the long-lasting claim is true. The clip also stars a talking Super Bowl puppy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt like this strategy added a little intrigue to keep engagement focused on Downy and Unstopables,\u201d Maxwell told Adweek.<\/p>\n

The magic of 11<\/h4>\n

The campaign was created with P&G\u2019s Woven Collaborative, a multi-agency collective co-led by executives from WPP\u2019s Grey and Publicis Groupe\u2019s Leo Burnett and\u00a0Saatchi & Saatchi. Saatchi & Saatchi, which has worked with P&G\u2019s Tide, is the agency working on the Super Bowl spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beauty of this campaign is that it goes back to that tension that is created by what the consumer thinks of the product,\u201d said Ciro Sarmiento, chief creative officer of Woven Collaborative. \u201cWe have an incredible product with an incredible truth, which is the long-lasting scent. There\u2019s also an incredible tension from the consumer, which is people usually don\u2019t believe in [advertising and marketing] claims.\u201d<\/p>\n

Downy\u2019s Unstopables product was introduced 11 years ago, which was the last time the brand was in the Big Game.<\/p>\n

In the 2012 spot, Downy recreated Coca-Cola\u2019s classic<\/a> 1980 Super Bowl commercial \u201cHave a Coke and a Smile\u201d starring former NFL star \u201cMean\u201d Joe Greene. In Downy\u2019s remix, actress Amy Sedaris played the precocious youngster offering Greene a bottle of Unstopables before rejecting his sweaty jersey.<\/p>\n

Downy is taking an interesting approach to building up interest in the celebrity reveal. There was significant content filmed ahead of the release and there should be multiple characters and Easter eggs featured along the way. Maxwell said the campaign will run nine weeks (63 days or 1,512 hours) up to the Super Bowl reveal on Feb. 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that will have interesting touch points all throughout December during Christmas, January and February,\u201d Sarmiento added. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of it, because people will have plenty of opportunities to see or not see the celebrity because he doesn\u2019t want to show his face of course, but to interact with him and ask questions. There\u2019s a lot of aspects that will spark curiosity among consumers and people on social media.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Super Bowl return for Downy comes amid P&G\u2019s recent decision<\/a> to pull back on marketing spend. <\/p>\n

Fox, which will carry the Super Bowl on Feb. 12, says it has sold out 95% of its in-game ad inventory, with 30-second slots going for\u00a0upwards of $7 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Super Bowl 56, 30-second Super Bowl ad slots went\u00a0for as much as $7 million<\/a>\u00a0during NBC\u2019s broadcast in February.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n