Two more brands are joining the Super Bowl advertising party for the first time—with a pair of ads that really get into underwear.
Calvin Klein and Colgate-Palmolive deodorant brand Speed Stick have each bought 30-second spots for Sunday's broadcast on CBS. CK has posted a short teaser of its creative online, while Speed Stick posted its full ad late Wednesday. See both of them below.
The CK spot, which will air toward the end of the first quarter, stars model Matthew Terry in a "man versus machine" story inspired by the "seamless technology construction" of the marketer's new Concept men's underwear line. The ad was shot in New York by consulting creative director Fabien Baron of Baron + Baron, along with Calvin Klein's in-house agency.
The Speed Stick ad was crowdsourced through the Tongal video community, and continues the brand's "Handle It" campaign, developed by ad agency Red Fuse. Due to air in the third quarter, it shows an impatient man at a laundromat who unloads a woman's laundry to use the dryer—and then is stuck holding her yellow panties just as she arrives.
"Don't sweat it. Handle it," the tagline says of the stressful situation.
The commercial is the product of social media, through which Speed Stick encouraged its fans to submit ideas for new "Handle It" spots. Brian Katz supplied the winning idea, and his tweet was brought to life by director David Brashear, a member of Tongal.
Calvin Klein, which has a long and often stormy advertising history, said appearing on the Super Bowl is a "significant milestone" in its evolution.
"We are a brand with a rich advertising legacy, and we firmly believe in powerful, multi-platform lifestyle advertising to support and grow the brand's image around the world," said Tom Murry, president and CEO of Calvin Klein Inc. "As an iconic American designer brand, we are extremely proud to be able to debut the latest Calvin Klein underwear campaign during the Super Bowl."
CK will support the TV spot with a print campaign and extensive digital efforts, including an in-game initiative using Vine, Twitter's new video-sharing app.
Other brands making their Super Bowl debuts this year include Axe, Oreo and Gildan Activewear.
