The Most Expensive Super Bowl Commercials of All Time
At a cost of $5.6 million for a 30-second ad for this year’s game, every Super Bowl commercial is expensive.
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But what are the most expensive ads of all time? GOBankingRates created cost estimates for the longest ads from recent years to produce this list of the costliest commercials.
Last updated: Feb. 2, 2021
13. Universal Pictures, Jurassic World Franchise
Commercial: “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” trailer
Length: 90 seconds
Cost: $11.9 million
Year: 2018
Super Bowl: LII
The trailer for the fifth movie in the “Jurassic Park” series (the sixth is scheduled for next year) cost almost 7% of the entire movie’s budget of around $180 million, according to Forbes.
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12. Bud Light, Bud Light
Commercial: Up for Whatever
Length: 30 seconds/60 seconds
Cost: $12 million
Year: 2014
Super Bowl: XLVIII
This was a two-part commercial detailing what happens to an average guy who accepts a Bud Light and says he’s “up for whatever happens next.” That leads to a crazy night involving a party with twins, table tennis against Arnold Schwarzenegger and more.
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11. Chrysler, Chrysler 200
Commercial: Imported from Detroit
Length: 120 seconds
Cost: $12.4 million
Year: 2011
Super Bowl: XLV
With a special appearance by Detroit’s own Eminem, this commercial was a hit for Chrysler and was intended to signal a rebirth of Detroit.
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10. Toyota, Toyota Prius
Commercial: The Longest Chase
Length: 90 seconds
Cost: $14.4 million
Year: 2016
Super Bowl: L
“How hard can it be to catch a Prius?” That’s the concept behind a commercial showing off the 2016 Prius as a group of bank robbers try to escape pursuing police.
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9. Amazon, Echo
Commercial: Alexa Loses Her Voice
Length: 90 seconds
Cost: $14.9 million
Year: 2018
Super Bowl: LII
When Amazon’s digital assistant, Alexa, loses her voice, the company goes to its backup plan of using celebrity voices such as Cardi B, Anthony Hopkins and Rebel Wilson.
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8. Samsung, Galaxy S III
Commercial: The Next Big Thing (is Already Here)
Length: 120 seconds
Cost: $15.2 million
Year: 2013
Super Bowl: XLVII
The whole concept of the ad is a pitch meeting, where Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd try to come up with ideas for the “next big thing” for Samsung.
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6. (tie) Kia, Kia Telluride
Commercial: Give It Everything
Length: 90 seconds
Cost: $15.6 million
Year: 2019
Super Bowl: LIII
Introducing a new “great unknown” in the Telluride, the ad celebrates the great unknowns of the town of West Point, Georgia, where the car is manufactured. With no special effects, this ad didn’t come across as one of the most expensive of all time.
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6. (tie) Amazon, Alexa
Commercial: Not Everything Makes the Cut
Length: 90 seconds
Cost: $15.6 million
Year: 2019
Super Bowl: LIII
Sure, Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant is an amazing product, but this ad points out not everything Amazon comes up with is a hit.
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5. Chrysler, Chrysler
Commercial: America’s Import
Length: 120 seconds
Cost: $16 million
Year: 2014
Super Bowl: XLVIII
In another ad that takes up an entire commercial block, Bob Dylan highlights how Chrysler is American-made.
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3. (tie) Ford, Ford Ride-Sharing
Commercial: Go Further
Length: 90 seconds
Cost: $16.2 million
Year: 2017
Super Bowl: LI
Rather than highlighting an individual car model, Ford focused this commercial on ways it’s breaking ground, from ride-sharing to electric vehicles.
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3. (tie) 84 Lumber, 84 Lumber
Commercial: The Journey Begins
Length: 90 seconds
Cost: $16.2 million
Year: 2017
Super Bowl: LI
The pro-immigration ad told the story of a mother and daughter’s journey to the United States.
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1. (tie) Google, Google Assistant
Commercial: Loretta
Length: 90 seconds
Cost: $16.8 million
Year: 2020
Super Bowl: LIV
This tear-jerker showed an elderly man using Google Assistant to assemble memories of his late wife.
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1. (tie) Amazon, Alexa
Commercial: Before Alexa
Length: 90 seconds
Cost: $16.8 million
Year: 2020
Super Bowl: LIV
This commercial sought to answer the question of what people did before Alexa was invented.
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Methodology: GOBankingRates began by referencing ESPN’s roundup of the five most expensive Super Bowl commercials ever. Then, to update and expand the list, GOBankingRates analyzed CNBC’s compilation of every 2020 Super Bowl commercial, Adweek’s 2019 Super Bowl ad tracker, the Chicago Tribune’s 2019 Super Bowl ad rankings, and Ad Age’s complete ad charts for 2018, 2017 and 2016 Super Bowls, as well as a feature by Variety on the phasing out of two-minute long Super Bowl ads to identify the longest Super Bowl ads to run in recent years. Then, using SuperBowl-Ads.com’s breakdown of the average cost of a 30-second ad spot by year, GOBankingRates created cost estimates for each of the longest ads from recent years. For each featured ad, GOBankingRates provided (1) the company running it, (2) the company being advertised, (3) the ad title, (4) the runtime, (5) the estimated cost to run the ad, (6) the year the ad ran, and (7) the Super Bowl during which the ad ran. All information was collected on and up to date as of Jan. 21, 2021.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: The Most Expensive Super Bowl Commercials of All Time
