Why were the Super Bowl ads packed with celebrities? 3 theories.

Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost
(Image credit: Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images)

You may have noticed, if you watched Super Bowl LVI, that just about every one of the multimillion-dollar commercials featured at least one A-list celebrity, often more. There were reunited TV and movie casts and even a memorable spot with real-life couple Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost sharing a comically dystopian version of their life together where Amazon's Alexa keeps things very real.

"It's a delightful departure from last year's ad slate, which featured somber messages from everyday people coming together during the pandemic," says Sara Fischer at Axios. But why did companies hire seemingly every living TV and movie actor to hawk their good and services this year?

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.