{"id":282292,"date":"2026-02-05T15:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T15:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/282292\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T15:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T15:08:10","slug":"star-talent-fees-down-as-ai-surges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/282292\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Talent Fees Down As AI Surges"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThis year\u2019s Super Bowl<\/a> will once again be jammed with celebrity-filled commercials, but The Hollywood Reporter has learned that\u00a0as the price of admission keeps climbing, advertisers are beginning to get a\u00a0bit\u00a0more judicious with where they are spending their marketing dollars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tA survey of CMOs, network executives,\u00a0media buyers,\u00a0agents\u00a0and talent, are painting a picture of what to\u00a0expect\u00a0between plays during this year\u2019s Big Game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe cost of entry for advertisers seeking 30 seconds during this year\u2019s Super Bowl on NBC\u00a0has passed an\u00a0eye-watering $10\u00a0million\u00a0for some late buyers\u00a0(most are paying around $8 million),\u00a0and celebrities\u00a0could end up\u00a0feeling\u00a0the pinch\u00a0as the larger\u00a0ad\u00a0market\u00a0tightens\u00a0up.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMany\u00a0brands are pulling back\u00a0somewhat\u00a0on\u00a0their\u00a0fees for talent\u00a0in big game ads,\u00a0seeking\u00a0to do more with their\u00a0stretched\u00a0budgets, multiple sources familiar with this year\u2019s market tell THR.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSuper Bowl spots\u00a0now have an all-in\u00a0cost\u00a0that starts at\u00a0$12\u00a0million on the low end and can run north of $20 million on the high end,\u00a0including\u00a0the $8 million-$10\u00a0million buy-in\u00a0fee for the network. The\u00a0talent fees\u00a0for stars\u00a0have been\u00a0a major driver\u00a0of\u00a0that\u00a0cost\u00a0inflation\u00a0in recent years.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGiven that it costs $8 million dollars to purchase 30 seconds\u00a0of media\u00a0time,\u00a0brands tightened their budgets,\u201d says Tim Curtis, a senior partner at WME. \u201cThe days of a $10-or-15-million-dollar payday for a\u00a0Super\u00a0Bowl commercial are\u00a0largely over, with some rare exceptions.\u00a0The sweet spot now for A+ talent typically sits within that $3-to-5-million-dollar range, unless the creative idea is contingent upon one celebrity\u2019s involvement.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, the big names are \u201cbeing paid appropriately,\u201d one source stresses, lest anyone\u00a0feel\u00a0too bad for the A-listers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMultiple sources\u00a0say that\u00a0brands are in some cases looking to get more bang for their buck by spreading their\u00a0talent\u00a0spend\u00a0across\u00a0an ensemble cast for their Super Bowl spots.\u00a0This\u00a0year\u2019s\u00a0game is expected to have a slew of star-studded spots, but with more small cameo roles\u00a0for stars,\u00a0which\u00a0only require a few hours or a day on set, in many cases, and with fees in the five or six figure range,\u00a0with\u00a0some A-listers scoring low 7-figure paydays.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tEnsembles not only allow a brand to spread\u00a0their\u00a0talent budget farther, but it also lets them bring in boldfaced names from different eras or platforms, from TikTokers and athletes to actors and musicians.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMatt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston and Jason Alexander in Dunkin\u2019s ad.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDunkin<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWith the brands that are looking at more of an ensemble cast, they\u2019re really trying to meet different demographics,\u201d says Carol Goll,\u00a0managing\u00a0partner &\u00a0head of\u00a0endorsements at Range Media Partners.\u00a0\u201cSo\u00a0it might be a content creator\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0mixed in with an actor that is more iconic than an up and comer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat\u2019s where influencers come into play, where depending on different ages and demos,\u00a0[brands] can\u00a0hit a few different areas of focus,\u201d adds\u00a0UTA agent\u00a0Brett\u00a0Duchon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIndeed, sources say that there is a small army of creators and influencers lined up for starring roles (like MrBeast for Salesforce) and cameo appearances across categories.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s\u00a0not that there\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0be a slew of\u00a0more traditional\u00a0star-studded spots (there may be more than ever!) but lower fees for starring roles and more ensemble casts could deliver a slightly different feel than year\u2019s past.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tStars, after all, want to be in Super Bowl ads too.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s\u00a0a sign of having \u201cmade it\u201d to the upper echelon of American popular culture.\u00a0According to data from\u00a0the media tracking firm\u00a0iSpot, in 2018 only 30 percents of Super Bowl ads featured a celebrity. Now, that number has inverted, with about 70 percent of spots featuring stars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Big Game is as big as it gets in the advertising<\/a> world; where else do you have the undivided attention of over 100 million people? Being a part of that again is both surreal and invigorating,\u201d Jon Hamm, who\u00a0stars with Scarlett Johansson and Bowen Yang\u00a0in a Super Bowl spot for Ritz crackers, tells THR.\u00a0\u201cAs an actor, you know these commercials will be something people talk about not just on Sunday, but long after as well.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0
\u201cEveryone\u2019s\u00a0trying to have one that\u2019s going to make a splash and impact and be memorable,\u201d says Elle Fanning, who will star in a comedic spot for Hellmann\u2019s Mayonnaise during the game. \u201cI hope we\u2019ll do just the same.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSo\u00a0what should viewers expect\u00a0to see?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tLook for a slew of AI<\/a> ads, both\u00a0ads\u00a0from AI companies and from spots that poke fun at the tech,\u00a0as well as some ads that\u00a0use\u00a0AI to help create their spots, be it advanced deepfakes to de-age celebrities, or video models that create a commercial entirely.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn fact, one of the big ad stories ahead of the big game is a public feud between OpenAI and Anthropic. Anthropic is set to air an ad (created and filmed by humans!) that promises its Claude AI will always be advertising-free. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded<\/a> angrily on X, writing that \u201cI guess it\u2019s on brand for Anthropic doublespeak to use a deceptive ad to critique theoretical deceptive ads that aren\u2019t real, but a Super Bowl ad is not where I would expect it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOpenAI\u2019s ad, he promises, will be \u201cabout builders, and how anyone can now build anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYes, the Super Bowl is turning into an AI ad war.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI believe we could possibly see our first truly AI-orchestrated, integrated 360\u00a0activation,\u201d says Kenny Gold, managing director and head of social, content and influencer for Deloitte Digital.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFrom concept testing and narrative optimization,\u00a0to media sequencing, creator amplification, social remixing, and post-game commerce, AI will act as the connective tissue across TV, social, retail, and experiential,\u201d Gold adds. \u201cAnd as recent AI-forward campaigns have shown, this\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0be risk-free: some brands will lean into overt AI use in their creative and accept potential backlash, while others will deploy AI more subtly behind the scenes to capture the upside without becoming the story.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0
Not that any AI-led spots will succeed without that human element.\u00a0Even\u00a0Svedka, which says its ad is made \u201cprimarily<\/a>\u201d with AI, had\u00a0plenty\u00a0of human help.\u00a0
\u00a0
\u201cCreativity and creative storytelling and talent that brings nuances to humor and to comedic timing and to entertaining storytelling is going to be more important than ever, because AI is not quite there yet,\u201d\u00a0says Kerry Benson, Kantar\u2019s senior VP of creative.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tA\u00a0number of\u00a0pharma companies\u00a0will\u00a0buy in\u00a0amid the GLP-1 boom, and multiple spots will lean into a nostalgic embrace of America, tied to both the country\u2019s 250th\u00a0anniversary\u00a0this year, as well as the Winter\u00a0Olympics, which will coincide with the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThere are still plenty of A-listers\u00a0participating\u00a0(George Clooney, Johansson,\u00a0Charli XCX,\u00a0Bradley\u00a0Cooper\u00a0and\u00a0Kurt Russell will all appear), and top-tier directors are\u00a0involved too (Yorgos Lanthimos has a couple ads, as does Taika Waititi.\u00a0Joseph Kosinski and Spike Jonze have spots\u00a0as\u00a0well).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019d say emotion always wins, be it humor, nostalgia, inspiration, that is the key ingredient behind winning Super Bowl work, work that cuts through, and that is exactly what we\u2019re bringing this year,\u201d says Ricardo Marques, VP of marketing for Michelob Ultra, which hired Kosinski to direct Russell, Lewis Pullman and Olympic stars like Chloe Kim in an action-packed spot filmed on an actual ski mountain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLewis Pullman and Kurt Russell in Michelob Ultra\u2019s 2026 Super Bowl ad.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichelob Ultra<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis year we are going to see more nostalgia-based commercials, more major pop stars featured in advertising, and several of our biggest movie stars,\u201d says Curtis. \u201cExpect to see work from companies focused on softening AI, more food delivery services and snack foods, more alcohol and beer spots, and the pharma industry continuing to lean in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd\u00a0of course\u00a0there will be lots of slapstick and over-the-top humor, as brands lean into the defining characteristic that\u00a0seems to work\u00a0year after year.\u00a0iSpot\u00a0says that about 70 percent of spots now feature humor, as brands pull back a bit on the more \u201cheartfelt\u201d emotions that once dominated the space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0going to show up wherever our fans are,\u00a0and\u00a0we\u2019re going to make them laugh,\u201d says Todd Allen, senior VP of marketing for Bud Light, which is bringing back Post Malone, Shane\u00a0Gillis\u00a0and Peyton Manning for this year\u2019s spot.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019ve\u00a0got to make them laugh to be able to grab their attention, stand out, and then\u00a0we\u2019re going to connect with them in a meaningful way through our talent, and\u00a0have them feel like they want to do anything to get their hands on that crisp, clean Bud Light.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tPost Malone and Shane Gillis in Bud Light\u2019s 2026 Super Bowl ad.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBud Light<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd\u00a0therein\u00a0lies\u00a0the rub.\u00a0Despite the eye-watering cost\u00a0and the investment\u00a0required\u00a0for talent,\u00a0there\u00a0remains\u00a0nothing else like a Super Bowl ad for professional marketers, and they all want to stand out\u00a0(as Fanning\u2019s commercial co-star\u00a0Andy Samberg calls the game, the \u201chighest peak of all\u00a0monoculture\u201d).\u00a0And standing out amid the crowd is tough.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFirst and foremost, it has to be super entertaining,\u201d says Georgie Jeffreys, the head of marketing for North America at Uber. \u201cThe message of the core takeout, we really believe, has to be at the center of it, versus being an afterthought, and the spot has to be memorable. And if you can get all three of them right, then generally, you stand a pretty good chance of breaking through, whether or not you have celebrities. Some of the best ads from the Super Bowls, even in recent years, have been ones without celebs. So I really do think if you can get those things, those three things, right, you\u2019re in really good standing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd even if A-listers are seeing fees trimmed, the demand for talent\u00a0that breaks through\u00a0has never been higher.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Super Bowl can compress the time it takes for people to be \u2018aware\u2019 of your brand.\u00a0Of course, you still have to deliver on that promise with a great product.\u00a0But in one night, you can move from a brand most people have never heard of to one your mom is texting you about,\u201d wrote<\/a>\u00a0Zachariah Reitano, the CEO of Ro, which has Serena Williams fronting its Super Bowl spot. \u201cThere is no other single marketing opportunity that can\u00a0accomplish\u00a0this. With today\u2019s algorithms, even what goes \u2018viral\u2019 might be only in your bubble. During the Super Bowl, we all share the same bubble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn other words, the Super Bowl might be\u00a0crazy\u00a0expensive for marketers, and getting more expensive every year, but it\u00a0remains\u00a0money well spent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0still such a smart way to deploy their resources and money,\u201d\u00a0says\u00a0Chris\u00a0Hart,\u00a0co-head of\u00a0talent\u00a0at UTA. \u201cYou\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0attract that many eyeballs\u00a0in\u00a0any other platform.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tXfinity\u2019s Jurassic Park Super Bowl Ad.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tXfinity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year\u2019s Super Bowl will once again be jammed with celebrity-filled commercials, but The Hollywood Reporter has learned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1149,220,218,219,61,60,94826,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-282292","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-advertising","9":"tag-ai","10":"tag-artificial-intelligence","11":"tag-artificialintelligence","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-super-bowl","15":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}