Big game day will look very different this year as COVID-19 influences eating. Eager as ever to snack their way through Super Bowl Sunday, consumers are predictably turning to traditional chicken wings as a comforting classic. 

Meanwhile, the pandemic is driving up home deliveries, vegan offerings are gaining traction, and key brands in food will be airing commercials during the country’s biggest sporting event of the year. 

The US’s love affair with chicken wings has not dwindled in 2021 despite significant price jumps.

The US National Chicken Council predicts Americans will devour a record 1.42 billion wings while watching the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers battle for the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday. 

This figure is up 2 percent from last year – and there are several reasons for the uptick, says National Chicken Council spokesman Tom Super. One is linked to the surge in home deliveries that have been prominent throughout lockdowns and restrictions. 

It is not just the big players delivering. The pandemic has led to a sea change in food deliveries, with smaller, local outlets turning to delivery apps or setting up their own regional operations.

“If you think about it, restaurants like wing joints and pizza places were built around takeout and delivery, so they didn’t have to change their business model that much during the pandemic. Wings travel well and hold up during delivery conditions,” he says.

“Plus, they align with consumer desire for comfort food during the pandemic. Chicken production remained steady in 2020, and as long as people are sitting around watching TV and maybe drinking a beer, wings will remain in the game.”

Another hot and emerging trend in food delivery is so-called “dark,” “ghost,” “delivery-only” or “cloud” kitchens, which are often located in industrial sites in shipping containers or warehouses. They are delivery-only kitchens providing restaurants with another way to get their food to customers.

Hot demand for wings
Data from the US Department of Agriculture data also confirms the rising popularity of chicken wings. According to the most recent Cold Storage Reports, there was a 29 percent reduction last November and a 24 percent reduction last December in year-over-year wing inventories in cold storage.

This means restaurants and retailers removed significant volumes of chicken wings out of freezers and stocked up months in advance for the big game.

The rise of game-day food packages
As more people will be watching the game at home with close friends and family in 2021, many will be turning to game-day food packages. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a move into a delivery-centric industry.Since the pandemic started to bite last year, one of the first shifts in eating was at-home consumption triggered by foodservice sectors being shut down and people limiting their grocery store trips.

This has led to a wave of home deliveries and higher expectations from consumers who want to order, pay for and receive their food in ways that suit them. 

As noted by Innova Market Insights’ trend Omni-Channel Eating, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a move into a delivery-centric industry. According to the trend, comfort, cross-channel convenience and accessible indulgence offer new experiences.

Meanwhile, home baking and scratch cooking with a focus on kitchen cupboard essentials has proliferated. But, as pandemic cooking fatigue kicks in, at-home chefs also need greater inspiration and excitement. 

Another major shift sees more sophisticated chef-inspired recipes that have taken hold as consumers “travel through tastebuds” and explore adventurous cooking at-home, replicating dishes usually found in restaurants. 

In any case, people want an exciting variety of healthy and interesting food delivered to the door, whenever they want it. Restaurants all over the US are responding by offering “Super Bowl spreads”.

Bid ads of Super Bowl 
There is no bigger stage in the ad world than the Super Bowl, and this Sunday will see a host of food-centric commercials. 

DoorDash Super Bowl ad featuring Sesame Street’s cookie Monster.

But this year, brands are making sure campaigns highlight how their products are relevant, meaningful, and add value to people’s lives while prioritizing humanity and purpose.

Notably, food delivery company DoorDash – which has partnerships with convenience brands like Walgreens and 7-Eleven, grocery store chains like Meijer and Hy-Vee, and PetSmart – will air its ad. The Super Bowl special commercial will emphasize DoorDash’s expansion into the convenience and grocery channels through a Sesame Street-style storytelling narrative featuring well-loved characters Big Bird and cookie Monster. 

Food delivery competitor, Uber Eats, has also signed up for a Super Bowl ad spot, which sees Mike Myers and Dana Carvey reprise their Wayne’s World roles. 

Pringles in the snacking line-up 
While the Big Game will create the flurry of excitement and attention seen in years past, 2021 will look different as more football fans enjoy the game from home, stresses Pringles brand owner The Kellogg Company.

The Pringles 2021 Super Bowl ad – which will air at the end of the first quarter of the game – propels viewers into the world of “flavor stacking” which encourages consumers to unlock new flavor combinations by stacking different crisps on top of each other, highlighting the “endless flavor exploration” of the popular snacking brand.

Unilever takes on food waste 
Meanwhile, Unilever, which owns Hellmann’s brand, has enlisted US comedian Amy Schumer to promote its mayonnaise while tackling the issue of food waste. 

 Hellmann’s mayonnaise ad featuring comedian Amy Schumer.The 30-second ad will run during the third commercial break in the second quarter.

It comes as Unilever has released its 2020 financial results pinning overall underlying sales growth of 1.9 percent. There were gains for Food & Refreshment, which edged up driven by Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Unilever’s plant-based brand The Vegetarian Butcher.

Beer “bringing people together”
Anheuser-Busch’s Super Bowl ad is the company’s first corporate Super Bowl ad, a montage of all the little moments – sad, happy and reflective – for which “let’s grab a beer” sits in the center.

The ad positions beer as a drink that brings people together, which is a timely idea. People are missing togetherness after a year of lockdowns and social distancing rules, notes the company.

AB InBev, which has held exclusive alcohol ad rights for the game since 1975, is also running two commercials for Bud Light, two for Michelob Ultra and one for Stella Artois.