Minneapolis Agency Creates Two Super Bowl Ads
Landing an ad slot during Super Bowl Sunday is no small feat — and women-owned Minneapolis agency Griffin Archer has managed to do it not once, but twice this year. The agency has created and produced Super Bowl ads for mattress company Sleep Number and cheese dip maker Pancho’s.
Minneapolis-based Sleep Number, who’s been a client of Griffin Archer’s for the last four years, has done numerous Super Bowl ad campaigns in the past through its longstanding partnership with the National Football League. Last year, the company ran its first ad during the streamed Super Bowl game. This year, the Sleep Number ad will be seen on Fox Sports streaming app during the game.
Pancho’s, whose parent company Sabrosura Foods is based in Bloomington, will be promoting its queso cheese dip during the Super Bowl in regional markets, including Minneapolis, St. Louis, Detroit, Indianapolis, Baltimore, and Boston.
Griffin Archer founder and CEO Ellie Anderson noted that, other than the holiday season, the Super Bowl season can be a tough time for brands to stand out. “Brands have a real challenge to make something really special, and it can’t just be forgettable and it can’t be something that you would run any other time of year,” Anderson said in a Tuesday interview.

To promote a brand on the national stage, Anderson said the content has to be engaging and memorable. Additionally, Super Bowl ads don’t just run for 15 or 30 seconds during the game anymore; they’re usually part of an ongoing campaign leading up to the actual game.
Sleep Number’s Super Bowl ad, for instance, launched during the first NFL playoff game. The ad features a voice-over from comedian Bob Menery. Pancho’s, which first partnered with Griffin Archer for a Super Bowl campaign last December, launched its ad this past Monday featuring Hall-of-Famer and former Vikings defensive tackle John Randle.
“Nowadays, you’re creating content for TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and everything has to be this larger campaign surrounding Super Bowl,” Anderson said. “People are trying to find more and more unique ways to do that, whether it’s through pumping out these teaser videos, or through bigger partnerships…I would say one of the more difficult things is being able to create so much content to go across every single platform that they’re on.”
The way people watch the game is changing, too, which further complicates ad strategies. For the first time this year, streaming viewers this year are expected to outnumber broadcast and cable viewers, according to Adtaxi’s annual Super Bowl Viewership survey.
And as many people already know, Super Bowl ads certainly aren’t cheap; ad industry trade publication Ad Age this week reported that some companies are spending as much as $7 million for a slot during the big game.
“When you consider all of the brands that are out there in the world, there are very few that take this step to do this because it’s a really expensive buy. Then it’s just really scary for some brands to have the pressure of that national stage, but that’s what we like best.” Anderson said. “We’ve done great work over the years. And to be able to now bring that work to the national stage over the last few years is something that we’re all very proud of.”
Griffin Archer is unique in another way. Founded in 2013, it’s among the less than 1% of ad agencies owned by women–that number shrinks even more so when it comes to agencies producing Super Bowl ads. In addition to Sleep Number and Sabrosura Foods, Griffin Archer also works with other big-name clients like supermarket chain Hy-Vee and Goldfish Swim School.