Amazon Releases a Teaser for its First-Ever Super Bowl Ad

It will be Amazon’s first-ever Super Bowl ad and the famously cost-conscious company is spending to promote the artificial-intelligence-powered virtual assistant, Alexa, built into its Amazon Echo device. In this new ad for the “Baldwin Bowl”, Alec Baldwin calls out Dan Marino for claiming he can throw a party, but then not being sure how to actually throw one. At least 10 other brands including LG, PayPal, Pokemon, SoFi, and outdoor apparel brand Marmot signed up for inaugural game-day spots for the hefty price of million for 30 seconds of airtime.

Having the commercial focus on Alexa elevates the value proposition of the $180 Echo, along with pointing consumers toward the feature set that stands to benefit Amazon the most.

The Amazon Echo home connection appliance retails for $179.99 United States dollars. The company posted a teaser for the ad which prominently features the Amazon Echo.

Amazon plans two more teasers before the opening kickoff of the game on February 7.

Baldwin is forced to ask Alexa, the A.I. system akin to Apple’s Siri on the Amazon Echo, what a “snack stadium” is. It shows the two men brainstorming an elaborate Super Bowl party, then turning to the Echo when an idea stumps them. Alexa, how do you spell “Pecorino”?

A public relations agency representing Amazon didn’t provide further details about the expense or the strategy behind the ad, except to say there’s more to come.