Pluto TV to Debut First Ever Super Bowl Commercial

Pluto TV
(Image credit: Pluto TV)

LOS ANGELES—As Pluto TV starts to celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2024, the streaming TV service has announced plans to air its first ever Super Bowl ad. 

The ad will air during Super Bowl LVIII, which will air on Paramount's CBS, the company's Paramount+ streaming services and other platforms. 

“At some point over the past decade, the world of television became undeniably crowded and complicated, making audiences yearn for simpler days. Super Bowl LVIII offers an ideal opportunity to connect with viewers seeking that easy and comforting essence of television, a return to TV the way it should be,” said Valerie Kaplan, global senior vice president, head of consumer marketing, Pluto TV. "We're excited to share our brand story with fans nationwide, using our authentic voice, irreverent sense of humor, and an unforgettable crop of couch potatoes who love TV as much as we, at Pluto, do."

The on-air ad will kick off a wider marketing campaign that will run across linear, CTV, radio, streaming audio, out-of-home, digital display and social media over the coming months.

“We are thrilled for Pluto TV’s Super Bowl close-up with a memorable, relatable and entertaining metaphor that leverages Pluto TV’s premium programming in an unexpected way,” said Terry Minogue, executive vice president of creative marketing, Paramount Streaming. “The Super Bowl is the biggest day of the year in advertising and we seized the opportunity by generating creative that is brand forward and easily accessible, just like Pluto TV."

On the ground, to bolster its first Big Game presence, Pluto TV will take residency with several sponsorships of on-site events in Las Vegas such as Guy Fieri’s Flavortown Tailgate and Gronk Beach. 

Shot by award-winning director Stacy Wall of Imperial Woodpecker Productions, the ad was created by LA-based independent creative agency HAYMAKER.

In launching the ad, Pluto TV said that the commercial is an ode to the great American pastime of TV-watching and that the brand new spot is centered around the essence of fandom and how viewer moods dictate the content they seek.

The spot takes viewers somewhere between Idaho and a dream, where lies Pluto TV Country, a place where the best couch potatoes in the world are raised on the finest content from Pluto TV – content that’s abundant, free and easy, the streamer explained. 

Each potato represents the fandoms that Pluto TV plays host to regularly, Pluto TV reported. 

In documentary style, rows of couch potatoes, watching Pluto TV, espouse emotions in confessional-style fashion, while feeding on an array of diverse programming and genres ranging from thrillers, dramas, reality, comedies, telenovelas and more. Beloved and popular IP featured in the spot includes The Walking Dead, Star Trek: The Next Generation, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Yellowstone, The Price is Right, Survivor, Blue Bloods, Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, CBS Mornings, SpongeBob SquarePants and other Pluto TV content. There’s even a cat potato watching Pluto TV’s Cats 24/7, the company said. 

George Winslow

George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.