Ballyhooed ads mostly play it safe, lack surprises

NEW YORK — The pressure was on. The tension was thick. And then, there were yawns in between.

The Super Bowl might have been a nail-biter, but the ads were a snooze.

Actor Clint Eastwood waxed for two minutes about Detroit and Chrysler. An M&M stripped “naked” at a party. And stars from the 1990s were everywhere, as were dogs and babies, of course.

Companies paid an average of $3.5 million for a 30-second spot for the right to duke it out Sunday in front of the expected 111 million-plus fans. But it was all so ordinary with fewer surprises.

That’s mostly because nearly half of the 70 Super Bowl advertisers put their spots out online in the days leading up to the game. And the companies that waited until game day for the “big reveal” didn’t take many risks. In fact, most settled on cliche plots with babies, celebrities, sex and humor.

“Advertisers this year are playing it very safe,” said Tim Calkins, a professor of marketing at Northwestern University. “They’re running spots that are clearly designed to appeal to a broad audience and not to offend.”

That said, some advertisers showed a little skin. An ad for domain name-hosting site GoDaddy shows racecar driver Danica Patrick and fitness expert Jillian Michaels painting a nude woman. A spot for clothing retailer H&M features soccer star David Beckham in black-and-white in his undies. And online florist Teleflora and automaker Kia use Victoria Secret’s model Adriana Lima in their Super Bowl ads.

Chrysler, one of nine automakers advertising during the game, aired the ad starring Eastwood. The 81-year-old talks about the rebirth of Chrysler and Detroit. The two-minute “Imported from Detroit” ad, one of the few spots that wasn’t released before the game, follows the company’s ad last year that starred rapper Eminem.

Chrysler’s ad was among the few surprises — and standouts — on Sunday.

“Those very few ads that weren’t overexposed up front ended up with a real advantage,” said Raymond Taylor, a professor of marketing at the Villanova School of Business.

Some advertisers attempted to tug at viewers’ heart strings by stirring up old, fond memories.

Honda’s ad for its compact sports-utility vehicle CR-V shows actor Matthew Broderick living a grown-up version of his 1986 hit movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” The ad includes two dozen references to the movie.