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This is a story that could only happen in 2021 amid a pandemic. Stock footage usage is soaring in ads, including the Super Bowl, where an ad goes for $5.5 million a pop. Naturally, two brands, Guaranteed Rate and Indeed, looking to keep their production crews safe tapped into stock footage from content house Filmsupply. You can see where this going. Yes, they picked the same clip.

We spoke with both brands and a few experts about how it happened and what marketers need to be thinking about as they use stock footage in ads, especially ones about to be seen by 100 million people.

Speaking of that Guaranteed Rate spot...

Emmy Liederman caught up with the brand about the inspiring spot that reminds us how important our homes are during these tough times. She did a deep dive into the message of the spot.

Big Game Ads Update:

Based on what we know last year about Fox's 77 ad units and how many ads have been released (watch all of them here). We're looking at about 15 minutes of new creative this Sunday. So if you like it when brands surprise viewers during the game, you're going to like Super Bowl 55. Get my full update on what to expect Sunday.

Where Are the Masks?

One of the first things I noticed once we had about 20 ads was the fact there are no masks. There's 30+ ads out and the closest thing to a mask is an unused neck gaiter in Tide's spot. Why is that? One obvious reason is brands don't want to highlight something that has been made political. Adweek's senior editor Robert Klara dives into four more reasons in this digital feature.

Live From the Super Bowl, It's SNL Alums

If you've been keeping an eye on teasers and full ads, you'll notice a theme: Former SNL cast members graduating to the biggest stage in the world. So far, six of them have starring roles.

What you need to know about Adweek's plans on Sunday:

• 40 journalists, editors and visual artists will cover the game in our Virtual War Room.
• We'll produce roughly 40 stories on the site on Sunday.
• We'll be covering the game live on Twitter with reviews and commentary.
• You can rate the Super Bowl ads on our Instagram account.
• We'll have live reviews on TikTok.
• Be sure to keep an eye out for this newsletter to get all the info midgame and postgame.
• Subscribe to our First Things First newsletter to get editor in chief Stephanie Paterik's takeaways from the game.

Sunday's Big Game has the potential for more surprises than usual.

The many and varied reasons marketers left their N95s in the drawer.

Five current and former SNL cast members will appear in Big Game spots.

Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski star in the rejected spot; the carrier will still run two other ads in Sunday's Big Game.

The mortgage company's spot focuses on defying boundaries.

The NFL recognizes that fantasy sports brands are part of a new reality.