Sunday night saw the New England Patriots win against the Atlanta Falcons in the 51st Super Bowl in Texas. As always, the marketing world’s eyes were on the epic Super Bowl ads that apparently cost around $5 million a spot this year (let alone production)!
And as this year’s Super Bowl is the LI edition in roman numerals as well as my initials, here’s my roundup of some of the best ads.
Standing up to Trump
No one can ignore the current political turmoil going on is America at the moment and it seems brands aren’t afraid to comment on the situation either.
Budweiser took to the screen to tell the story of a German man struggling to get the Budweiser brand up and running in the USA in the late 1800s. The end frame reads ‘When nothing stops your dream, this is the beer we drink’. With a nice reference to the half time act Lady Gaga’s song ‘Born this Way’, Budweiser say the ad was not created with political intent… but I’ll leave that decision up to you.
84 Lumber put together an epic, emotional and controversial campaign video about the journey of a Mexican mother and daughter trying to make their way to USA. After airing the 90” cliff hanger ad before halftime, millions were driven to the website to find out more and the website crashed due to demand. The company’s president said: “Even President Trump has said there should be a ‘big beautiful door in the wall so that people can come into this country legally.’ It’s not about the wall. It’s about the door in the wall. If people are willing to work hard and make this country better, that door should be open to them”. A hit with the world clearly – have a watch of the full story
Culturally connecting
Febreze ‘Halftime #bathroombreak’ made a cultural moment for Americans that must have come from simple insight – when the game has reached half time you need to go to the bathroom quickly. Febreze celebrates this and acts as a helper to make sure you don’t leave behind a bad smell. ‘Is your bathroom ready America?’
Self-reflecting
Honda’s ‘Yearbooks’ is a nice ad with nine celebrities speaking from their youth about reaching your goal and chasing your dreams. It’s very inspirational and board line cheesy! But it does have a nice sentiment ‘be the best you can be’.
Tiffany & Co use the slot to introduce their new brand ambassador Lady Gaga to the luxury jewellery brand just before her half time show. Gaga authentically speaks about what the brand means to her and shares the special moments from her life.
Just for fun – because it’s the Super Bowl after all:
Mercedes ‘Easy Rider’ – featuring Peter Fonda who was in Easy Rider seemed to be a hit with the Americans. Clearly an icon…
Skittles ‘Romance’ – another fairly funny spin on the ‘taste the rainbow’ series with ‘Romance the rainbow’. A boy is trying to wake up his love Katie by throwing Skittles at her window, however he is unaware the Skittles are going into the house and into the girl’s mouth as well as a lot of other people too.