Brands Refocused on Selling Stuff and Winning Customers
The game may have been a one-sided snoozefest, but last night’s Super Bowl LIX telecast featured some memorable commercials (costing about $8 million for 30 seconds). ADWEEK stayed up all night to determine which ones were most popular with viewers.
Incorporating the sophisticated audience research capabilities of Hootsuite, EDO, and System 1, ADWEEK measured the ads for online chatter (brand mentions across the internet), viewer engagement (online searches and website traffic) and emotional response (consumer reactions to the creative), ranking overall winners and standouts in each research category.
And without further ado, this year’s overall top five (there’s a three-way tie for first place) are:
Doritos “Abduction” – – A UFO tracker napping in front of his computer screens valiantly fights off aliens trying desperately to snatch his Doritos.
Budweiser “First Delivery” – – The beloved Clydesdales return featuring a left-out horse going above the call of duty to make a keg delivery.
Lay’s “The Little Farmer” – – A young girl growing up on a potato farm plants her own potato, proving she is part of a family tradition (and reminding us that Lay’s are made of real potatoes grown on family farms).
Ram “Drive Your Own Story” – – Actor Glen Powell incorporates Ram trucks in a wild dragon-slaying, volcano-jumping, bear-fighting bedtime story he’s telling his niece and nephew.
Bud Light “Big Men on the Cul-de-sac” – – A spur-of-the-moment block party goes crazy thanks to plenty of beer and the antics of post-Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light spokespersons Shane Gillis, Post Malone and Payton Manning.
Little Caesars “Whoa!” – – Actor Eugene Levy’s distinctive eyebrows fly off when he tastes the pizza chain’s bite-size pizza pockets.
Nike “So Win” – – Playing off the brand’s “Just Do It” slogan, Nike features champion women athletes, including Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson and Olympic sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, rejecting stereotypes and defying expectations.
My key takeaway as a crisis communications guy? In line with what we’re seeing from companies and organizations trying their best to navigate a dynamic political environment, brands are sticking to business, getting back in character and dialing back the social commentary.
Visit ADWEEK (linked below) to see all the rankings and view the commercials. I’m confident it will be more entertaining (unless you’re an Eagles fan) than watching a replay of last night’s game.
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