The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles face off on February 9, 2025 (6:30 p.m. ET on Fox, if it’s not on your calendar already). To get 30 seconds of ad time during the big game, brands coughed up a cool $7 – $8 million per spot.
If that’s not in the budget, here are eight Super Bowl ad alternatives that will cost you a lot less.
Below, I’ve got a few examples of big brands with particularly creative alternatives to Super Bowl ads, plus tips from a PR pro on using Super Bowl marketing strategies in your own <$7 mil campaigns.
Table of Contents
What Big Brands Do Instead of Buying Super Bowl Ads
In 2021, at least 10 big brands — Budweiser, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi among them — sat out Super Bowl LV and directed their funds elsewhere. Anheuser-Busch, Budweiser’s parent company, donated money toward COVID vaccine efforts.
Here’s how two brands will be celebrating this year’s big game without an official ad spot, an honorable mention, and one iconic alternative ad:
Perdue Chicken: Wingin’ It
On February 9, Perdue will partner with actor/singer/comedian Wayne Brady for a non-Super Bowl Super Bowl ad. Rather than buying a $7 million ad spot, Perdue will feature Brady on Instagram Live throughout the game — expect skits, Q&As, and other comedic bits.
Captain Morgan: Rum Street
Super Bowl LIX will be hosted by Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, famous for its French Quarter, Mardi Gras celebrations, and Bourbon Street.
Except that this year, Captain Morgan is turning bourbon into rum with its Rum Street activation. The live event is accompanied by interactive online treasure hunts, weekly prizes leading up to the game, and at-home cocktail recipes.
Jenna Guarneri, author of the bestselling book You Need PR and the founder and CEO of JMG Public Relations, tells me that in-person events like this are one of the biggest emerging trends she’s seeing. It may seem like a simple idea, she says, but “it doesn’t really get old. You’re connecting with your core — or potential core — customer in real life. Which is pretty amazing.”
Captain Morgan and other brands that are leveraging the history and lore of New Orleans are “generating buzz within the local community where the Super Bowl is happening,” Guarneri says. “But you can do that wherever you are, because people are watching everywhere in the U.S.”
Duolingo
We’re calling this an honorable mention since Duolingo’s 2024 Super Bowl campaign began with an official ad — but one that was only five seconds long.
The real campaign came in the form of coordinated push notifications sent immediately after the ad aired that reminded learners to practice.
Duolingo called it a technical risk: “Our teams had never attempted a coordinated push campaign at this scale, and we didn’t know if it was even technically possible to send a push notification to 4 million learners in 5 seconds without crashing our app.”
It was, and they did. It’s worth noting that the owl app only took the risk because it had done a lot of social listening and other market research to figure out what would resonate with its audience.
Skittles: The Musical
Back in 2018, Skittles decided it didn’t want to shell out $5.2 million for a Super Bowl ad. So it took that money and created a full-length Broadway musical instead (as you do).
Skittles’ clever anti-marketing stunt may have awakened your inner theater kid, but it was still pretty expensive. And, as a small- to medium-sized business marketer, you likely can’t afford a Broadway production.
So, what do you do if you don’t have millions in your budget like the brands above?
Below, I‘ll list eight advertising strategies that brands use during the Super Bowl. For each, I’ll walk you through how you can take advantage of each on a much smaller scale while still effectively gaining brand awareness.
8 Affordable Marketing Alternatives to Super Bowl Advertising
1. Buy video ad space on social platforms.
As a small business marketer, you don’t need to pay for a high-priced televised ad slot to get seen by the right audiences — social media plays a predictably huge role in advertising. Buying in-stream ads can reach a highly target audience:
If you purchase a more budget-friendly skippable ad placement, you’re competing with the allure of the “Skip Ad” button, so you’ll have just one or two seconds to get your audience’s attention. Here’s a clever approach to that from Burger King:
With social media presenting an increasingly fragmented landscape, Guarneri says to diversify — “you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket, like on TikTok, and then the platform disappears — along with your audience.”
Twitter used to be a prime spot for Super Bowl-adjacent ads, with its own Brand Bowl roundup of best brand tweets. But since it transformed from Twitter to X, advertisers are spending significantly less money there — 50% less, according to some projections — as X users scatter to other platforms like Threads and Bluesky.
And in 2023 — the last time the Chiefs and Eagles played for the Lombardi — AdWeek noted that brands were ditching X and putting that money into other social platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
That doesn’t mean you need to sink a ton of money into every single social platform. Guarneri says to “pick the things that you can focus on and do it in high quality. So maybe it‘s not six things —maybe it’s two. But that way you’re catching people in a number of different ways.”
Consider using other techniques to draw attention, such as presenting a relatable pain point, offering a value proposition, or placing viewers into an action-filled scene when the video starts playing.
If you need more inspiration, here’s some fan-favorite ads (and some marketing lessons) from Super Bowl 2024.
2. Host a live event.
Guarneri says that “brand awareness can be such a high cost and high-dollar entry point, but there’s ways to get creative about it,” particularly around such a cultural touchpoint like the Super Bowl.
You can draw inspiration by the big-brand activations, she says, “by creating small in -person events and drawing people in to celebrate this (cultural event).”
“You can do initiatives, whether big or small, in your hometown. You could create some sort of culinary experience that‘s tied to NOLA — you don’t have to live in NOLA to do that.”
A beignet-driven marketing strategy? I’m in.
3. Dive deeper with a video narrative.
Super Bowl ads often feel like miniature movies. Rather than establishing a pain point and offering a product-based solution, they often tell rich stories.
Take Clio Hall of Fame and Cannes Lions winner “1984.” Directed by Ridley Scott for Apple, the ad aired during Super Bowl XIII, when Apple was more underdog than tech gargantuan, and IBM ruled the PC world.
At the end of the commercial, a narrator announces, “On January 24th, 1984, Apple will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984.’”
The commercial is a deep metaphor for how Apple’s brand, innovative products, and mission would free computer users from the monopolies of past tech giants.
Guarneri says you don’t need celebrity directors and a big budget to create your own video narrative — just grab your camera and your founder. People gravitate toward celebrity ambassadors because they humanize a brand, and founders can also provide a humanized connection.
“Thought leadership is such a big thing,” she says. “We encourage people to have the founders be a part of the brand and a part of the story, because then you‘re creating this larger story that’s relatable for your customer.” And they’ll want to keep learning more.
Interested in crafting a compelling advertisement script? Check out this template. If you have a great idea but aren’t sure where to start production-wise, read this step-by-step guide.
4. Leverage major events or holidays.
Major cultural events like the Super Bowl or the Oscars are campaign opportunities for big brands, who suddenly have the attention of an enormous audience — not just during the event, but often for weeks before and after.
It doesn’t cost gazillions of dollars to create campaigns with references to pop culture or current events. These could include blog posts about how an event relates to your industry, social media posts that leverage topical hashtags, or a marketing video about how your customers might be celebrating an event.
Guarneri suggests finding ways to integrate online and IRL engagement. “If you have a restaurant,” she says, “you can create a specialty item. You could do a discount promo if people come within a certain window. Maybe your restaurant or bar can create something in advance where people want to buy that product to bring to their parties.”
If you create an Insta-worthy Super Bowl-themed cupcake, for instance, people will post photos to their social media, “creating a buzz, and everyone will want to purchase it … and then it sells out in time for the Super Bowl,” Guarneri says. “That’s the goal.”
During the big game in 2020, energy drink brand G-Fuel asked Twitter users to reply with who they think will win the #SuperBowl. The tweet includes an image of two G-Fuel drinks in front of a football field:
This capitalizes on the #SuperBowl hashtag, which will be seen by millions of football fans. You’ll note that the Super Bowl isn’t mentioned in the ad itself, though — it’s a trademark owned by the NFL, which doesn’t allow brands to use the event name “with commercial intent.”
One of our past masters in marketing, Hassan S. Ali, has some creative ideas on skirting legal issues. So do Newcastle Brown Ale and Anna Kendrick:
5. Lean into co-marketing.
Even big brands look for more budget-friendly advertising, like this 2015 co-marketed Super Bowl ad. Co-marketing is when two or more brands join forces — plus money, time, effort, and resources — to create a single piece of content that highlights all the brands involved.
For this ad, Newcastle pooled its money with 37 other brands to buy a Super Bowl ad slot, which they appropriately titled “Band of Brands”:
6. Consider influencer marketing.
Aside from high-budget productions and gripping narratives, Super Bowl commercials are also known for their star-studded casts. Remember this Amazon Echo commercial where Alexa is voiced by a handful of popular celebrities?
Although you probably can’t hire stars like Cardi B, you might have budget for a micro-influencer who’s credible and highly followed in your industry.
When you sponsor an influencer who really understands their audience and your industry, they’ll create and publish content that intrigues their audience while also highlighting your product.
An influencer marketing strategy can also be especially effective on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok.
In this example, the smartphone game “Run Around” sponsored a TikTok user who’s gained more than 15,000 followers simply by recording herself playing mobile games. The brand identified that gaming-oriented audiences were on TikTok and sponsored an influencer whose audience anticipates her mobile game reviews and demonstrations.
7. Use counter-programming.
Sure, more than 100 million people in the U.S. will be watching the big game, but another 200 some million won’t be. If your target audience is among the latter, you have the opportunity to capture their attention while everybody else is watching Taylor Swift’s boyfriend.
Two words: Puppy Bowl.
Two more words: Kitten Bowl.
Some years ago, Twitter users made their own counter-programming, gleefully sharing pictures of owls instead of talking about sportsball:
Social listening may help you determine what your audience is thinking and what they’re doing if they’re not eating seven-layer dip and shouting at men in tight pants on TV.
8. Consider digital out-of-home marketing (DOOH).
Steve Nicklin, senior vice president of marketing and analytics for the Out of Home Advertising Association of America, argues in a recent blog post that “DOOH offers a compelling alternative to traditional Super Bowl advertising at the same cost.”
Nicklin cites a month-long, $7 million DOOH campaign that showed 7.5x more reach than a 30-second Super Bowl spot. He also points out that this isn’t a zero sum game: “Of course Super Bowl ads are still a major brand moment, but to maximize their impact and investment, brands should consider an integrated, omnichannel approach, one that utilizes DOOH in pre-game buildup, complements TV spots with real-time DOOH updates and continues the conversation post-game to reinforce key messages and leverage big game moments.”
His advice for reaching younger audiences? “Savvy brands can also incorporate social media elements in DOOH ads to increase online brand engagement, especially among younger fans.”
Creating a Super Bowl-Quality Ad
As you work towards creating a quality ad on a budget, keep these scalable big brand tips in mind:
- Tell a great story: Pull your viewers in, allow them to relate to your brand, and hook them by presenting how your product can help them.
- Embrace current events: Craft campaigns that touch on highly discussed on-trend events, such as the Super Bowl, award shows, or holidays — especially if they relate strongly to your brand.
- Leverage brands and influencers: Partnering with brands and influencers can earn attention from similar audiences that you haven’t already reached. To get started, research and build relationships with brands and influencers that your audiences or industries look to for credible tips.
Super Bowl Advertising for the Rest of Us
Even on a small budget, a little planning and a lot of creativity go a long way. Use and adapt these lessons from the big brands to make super ads all year long. A final word of advice from Guarneri: “You have to figure out what‘s right for you as a brand — what’s worth your time, energy, and resources — and then how well can you execute it. If you‘re going to spend time doing something, you want to make sure it’s high quality.”
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in January 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.