Companies have been running Super Bowl ads before the big event for years now. YouTube and other video hosting sites offer platforms that can reach anyone with an Internet connection, and it’s a great place to promote a product and flex marketing muscles. Seven such companies have gone beyond the tube sites to social media to promote bite-sized snippets of their brands. Snapchat has been a go-to platform for all holidays, events, and special occasions, and Adweek reports some big names that are taking advantage of its 100 million users.
Amazon will be airing its first Super Bowl ad this year, with a focus on its smart speaker, Echo. Last week it got Vine star David Lopez to promote Alexa, the voice of Echo. He has since been posting short updates of his activities during the events leading up to the big game, taking a break now and then to chat with his new friend Alexa.
Pepsi got superstar DJ Khaled to snap from its party at San Francisco’s Pier 80. The electronic music spinner and producer used his familiar hashtag in the ad — #wethebest. Another soft drink manufacturer got its own message across with tennis superstar Serena Williams. Gatorade took the post-game tradition dunking to the snapping social network by creating a filter anyone can use. Williams demonstrates it for us all. On a regular day, ad buyers can spend up to $400,000 to use this feature for their brand.
Twentieth Century Fox got its own filters to promote the upcoming Deadpool film, which will be released February 12. The filters are what you would expect from the rascally antihero — one depicts him gyrating on a stripper pole with the words “Super Pole 50” emblazoned across the screen in a font similar to the one used for the actual event.
Taco Bell has had a history with Snapchat, but its using the network to promote its Quesalupa, which is a cheese-stuffed chalupa. The gooey dish can be preordered on the fast food restaurant’s website, and the snap has apparently prompted tens of thousands of hungry snappers to chow down. The snap features the band Never Shout Never and Snapchat celeb Shaun McBride (Shonduras).
What Super Bowl would be complete without food delivery? GrubHub is giving us the latest food facts through its Snapchat channel, including stats on pizza delivery frequency and toppings. General Electric put together three ads to promote its smart barbecues. One features former NFL great Jerome Bettis eating some food off the grill with ESPN television host Trey Wingo.
You just opened X and started typing your thoughts. Imagine the jump scare when a hand suddenly pops up on your screen, pointing at the promote button. It doesn’t say a word and simply points. For a growing number of X users, this isn’t a made-up scenario but something they have been seeing since yesterday, and very few of them are amused.
Most of us have learned to tune out the usual in-app upsells, whether it’s a glowing upgrade banner or a pop-up about a premium plan. A floating hand hovering over your draft is much harder to ignore, and that’s probably the whole point.
Scroll through any app for five minutes, and you’ll find someone maxxing something. Their skin, their sleep, their protein intake, even their Friday night on the couch. That little suffix has been everywhere this year, and now it has a trophy to show for it. In a recent announcement, Dictionary.com named maxxing its 2026 Word of the Year.
What are people actually doing when they’re maxxing?
Instagram is testing a new format for long-form videos called Features. It allows select creators to upload horizontal videos running up to 90 minutes long. Instagram has already tested the new format with creators in Brazil, and now, it's expanding to tens of thousands of creators across the US.
How will Instagram's new Features format work?