Does Instacart Need a Super Bowl Ad?

Joining DoorDash and Uber Eats, Instacart is rolling out its first Super Bowl commercial with the goal of turning the delivery platform into more of a household name.

The 30-second spot features “beloved icons from America’s favorite grocery brands,” including The Pillsbury Doughboy, Mr. Clean, Green Giant, and The Kool-Aid Man, as well as “breakout stars from the most legendary Big Game ads of years past,” such as Old Spice Guy, Energizer Bunny, Heinz Wiener Dogs, and Mountain Dew’s Puppy Monkey Baby.

The ad depicts the mascots working alongside each other in a race to deliver a grocery order to a family making breakfast.

Instacart said in a press release that the launch of the campaign marks the unveiling of its “We’re Here” brand platform, which underscores “that Instacart takes care of your groceries so you’re free to take care of life.”

“Instacart has spent more than a decade obsessing about groceries so our customers can spend more time focused on the moments that matter most to them,” said Chief Marketing Officer Laura Jones in a statement. “Our first Super Bowl ad brings this to life, showing the extreme care we put into each order, and is a major milestone as we bring our brand promise of ‘We’re Here’ to one of the largest audiences in the world.”

According to Adweek, Instacart’s advertising focus for much of its 12 years in existence has focused on recruiting subscribers and increasing order frequency, but it has recently ramped up investments toward brand building, including offering executions around the 2024 Paris Olympics and the MTV Video Music Awards.

Instacart’s push toward brand building comes as its reputation has taken hits over the years due to public acrimony and periodic strikes from its “shoppers,” its gig delivery workers, over pay, which led to a reset of the company’s compensation structure several times.

Complaints have also been heard from in-store grocery customers about pickers fulfilling online orders hogging parking spots outside stores and clogging aisles inside.

Advertising would additionally address consumers’ concerns over whether Instacart is worth the extra cost. Rick Watson, founder and CEO of retail consulting firm RMW Commerce Consulting, told Adweek, “Instacart’s market is people who value their time over the dollar amount that they’re spending — that’s a lucrative market because it includes any working family that doesn’t have time to get to the store.”

Instacart may also be looking to improve its standing with grocers and CPG brands.

While moving into other categories such as its recent partnership formed with Ulta Beauty, Instacart has to preserve its position as grocers’ go-to source for third-party delivery with competition from DoorDash, its biggest competitor that will be unveiling its fourth Super Bowl ad, and players like Uber Eats, which is debuting its fifth Super Bowl commercial. Target-owned Shipt is also a competitor, and Amazon is expanding its third-party delivery platform.

Improving its standing could reduce the temptation for grocers to bring delivery in-house to avoid fees or better control the delivery process and customer relationship.

Retail media is also a growth opportunity for Instacart that includes providing the technology to support retail media networks for independent grocers and a recent partnership with Google to offer shoppable ads to advertisers on YouTube.

Instacart joins the debate over whether a Super Bowl ad — this year rising again in price to as high as $8 million for some 30-second spots — is worth it for any brand.