Another Super Bowl has been recorded in the annals of history. While some will remember the evening for the victory or defeat of their team or Rihanna’s half time performance, the event has also logged another class of epic advertisements. Of note, advertisements this year were reported to sell for $7 million for a 30-second spot. This price does not involve production costs, talent costs, or any advertising being done around the Super Bowl (e.g., social media channels). Indeed, brands can easily spend upwards of $10 million or even $15 million dollars on a single commercial. This year had an interesting class of spots, and I’ll share some of my favorites with respect to spots that worked, those that were questionable, and those that were interesting.
Spots that Worked
This year, several brands took full advantage of the high-exposure opportunity; indeed, some brands succeeded in garnering consumer interest. Among my favorite spots were a pair of advertisements presented by T-Mobile. The first spot featured an exchange between Bradley Cooper and his mother. However, it paired strong comedic storytelling with equally strong branding and benefits. The second T-Mobile spot featured a parody of the musical Grease featuring celebrities John Travolta, Zach Braff, and Donald Faison, who sung about T-Mobile's home internet service. The advertisement again straddled entertaining the audience while keeping the brand and its benefits focal. I have often said that great advertising is a marriage of strategy and creativity; both spots pulled off this tandem with precision.
Another top ad spot of the evening came from Google’s Pixel. The advertisement drew in the audience by reminding us of the annoyance that arises when our best photographic moments in life are spoiled by unfortunate circumstances, whether that be a photo-bomb, the wrong words on our shirt, or the wrong relationship. The solution? Google’s Pixel has built-in features that can remove unwanted images from the picture. It’s a great example of product-focused advertising that touts a feature in an easy-to-understand manner. Google has shown, time and time again, it’s a brand to be reckoned with when it comes to Super Bowl advertising.
I was also pleasantly surprised by Squarespace. If you have followed the brand, it has often run advertisements that people struggle to understand or follow. You do not need to take my word for it; I literally have asked people the day after the Super Bowl what they thought about the Squarespace advertisement and they have said, “What ad was that?” This year was different. This year, they provided a much stronger piece of advertising that both introduced and communicated the brand in a clear fashion. Sure, it may have helped that it used actor Adam Driver and drew upon my love for the Matrix films, but it made it very clear that Squarespace is a website to help build other websites.
Spots that were Questionable
Not all the spots were exemplars in great branding. Rémy Martin had a spot with the iconic Serena Williams. However, for the most part, Serena stole the show, and it was unclear whether any association with Rémy Martin was required. No advertisement can be perfect, but compared to other advertisements in this year’s class, the brand seemed to be lost relative to the star power it employed. Indeed, this is a classic challenge for brands—using celebrities to amplify the brand as opposed to distract from it.
The spot by M&M’s was also a letdown for me. M&M’s had stirred some controversy by the possibility of removing their beloved M&Ms characters. Indeed, a number of reputable news sources even suggested that M&M’s would be retiring their characters and Maya Rudolph would be the new spokesperson. The problem? Twofold. First, if you were not aware of the controversy surrounding M&M’s the spot did not really work. Second, if you were aware of the controversy surrounding M&M’s the spot did not really work. No, I am not contradicting myself, basically the spot didn’t work. M&M’s has a history of great advertising, however, so I anticipate a rebound is in the future.
Other Notable Spots
Going into the Super Bowl, one piece of big news was that Budweiser relinquished its exclusivity in advertising during the big game. This certainly made, for me, a more interesting commercial landscape. For example, Molson Coors featured three of its brands in the same commercial: Miller, Coors, and Blue Moon. It was nice to see these brands have a stake in the game, and now, we get to look forward to what they’ll bring in years to come.
Another spot that merits mentions is Tubi. They evoked an Alice-in-Wonderland motif regarding rabbit holes. I got the idea—Tubi has so many free movies and shows that you might find yourself going down the rabbit hole, or at least that’s what I thought the idea was. The question is whether the motif helped consumers understand and sell the service or got in the way. It’s an interesting approach, to be sure, and it is one to keep an eye on.
In summary, another great year of Super Bowl commercials. Hard to believe that we have to wait almost an entire year for the next batch. However, as they say, good things come to those who wait.
