Those commercials everyone watched during the Super Bowl featured an above-average percentage of Black performers, according to a new analysis by Extreme Reach
The Super Bowl commercials also featured a bigger share of Asian performers than in the commercials that run the rest of the year, but Hispanic performers were underrepresented.
A previous Extreme Reach report used artificial intelligence, machine learning and human reviewers to analyze 1 million commercials that appeared in North America on linear TV and streaming platforms, establishing the benchmarks the Super Bowl spots could be measured against.
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Extreme Reach found that in this year’s Super Bowl commercials 27% of the performers were Black, compared to 14% of cast members in all of the ads studied in 2022.
Asian performers accounted for 12% of the casts in this Super Bowl LVII’s ads compared to 8% in all ads in 2022.
Hispanic representation was just 4% of the performers in ads. That’s less than the 10% seen in ads over the course of the year, and below the 19% of the population that is Hispanic.
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“We’re uniquely positioned to analyze diversity in Super Bowl ad creative and compare the results to TV and video creative overall in the industry,” said Tim Conley, CEO of Extreme Reach. “The use of artificial intelligence and machine learning have enabled us to provide benchmarks that marketers can now use to understand how their own creative assets compare.”
Extreme Reach plays a role in clearing, trafficking and delivering Super Bowl commercials ensuring they air in compliance and in perfect condition.
The percentage of Black performers in Super Bowl LVII, 26.9%, was up from 25.4% in Super Bowl LVI but down from 33.5% at Super Bowl LV.
At 3,6%, Hispanics share of the performers in Super Bowl ads was down from 4.5% last year but up from 2.5% in 2021.
Asians were down a bit from having 16.3% of the performers in 2022, but up from 8.3% in 2021.
“It’s uplifting to see the diversity in this year’s slate of Super Bowl ads with regard to Black and Asian cast members,” said Melinda McLaughlin, CMO of Extreme Reach. “However, the decrease in representation of Hispanic/Latino cast members is something we saw in our large-scale industry benchmark analysis, and seeing it also in the Super Bowl statistics signals an area that will likely be a focus for marketers ahead, especially considering the economic power of this segment.”
There have been more women in ads for four Super Bowls’ running, but women still appear less frequently than men. In 2003, women made up 39% of those seen in ads.
The study also found that Super Bowl ads feature older cast members than the industry average. ■
