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Is the Force with Disney+’s new text-based Super Bowl 58 ad?
Unlike several other brands advertising in the Big Game, Disney didn’t unveil teasers ahead of its creative in Sunday night’s matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Fransisco 49ers. Instead, the company dropped a surprise 30-second ad in the fourth quarter, showcasing a list of its popular phrases in black text on a white screen.
The ad, titled “Well Said,” features lines like “To infinity and beyond,” “Ohana means family” and even “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi,” with Disney+ looking to showcase the best stories in the world from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic.
The ad’s black-and-white aesthetic was unlike anything else that aired on Sunday, with the company letting its iconic phrases do all the talking.
Disney+’s commercial comes a month ahead of the company’s full integration of Hulu and Disney+, a merger that ad sales chief Rita Ferro told ADWEEK had “better than expected” results for advertisers just days after it rolled out in beta last December.
“For the bundle subscriber, for people who are customers of both Hulu and Disney+ with ads, it is a great opportunity to not have to go in and out—to be able to continue to consume that content within one app,” Ferro said.
To get viewers excited about the merger, Disney+ also won the rights to Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, reportedly shelling out $75 million for the movie, which hits the streamer next month.
The company was all over this year’s Big Game, with the Deadpool 3 trailer bringing Ryan Reynold’s Wade Wilson to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and FX’s Shōgun getting the Super Bowl treatment ahead of its late-February premiere.
At last year’s Super Bowl, Disney celebrated 100 years with a spot showcasing several properties, such as the Star Wars franchise; sequences from animated films such as Lion King, Frozen and Encanto; and behind-the-scenes moments from stage productions, theme parks and fans. But this year, it was all text, all the time.
