Every year I look forward to watching the Super Bowl. I’m not a big football fan but I am a fan of marketing and branding and the Super Bowl is the biggest stage of the year on television for any business. And given the expense, a lot of planning goes into the marketing campaigns of these mega brands. I love sitting back as a viewer and seeing what hits me vs what doesn’t. And this year was no exception.
This year I went to a friend’s house, got the kids situated so they could play with their friends, grabbed a spot conveniently located next to the chips and guacamole, had my phone charged, and a beer in hand ready to roll.
Now I’m not going to talk about the game, because that’s not my thing. But I will say that it started off exciting and quickly became less and less interesting. At least, it kept me more focused on the ads! And it wasn’t a blow out, so I was engaged through the end of the game, which is good for those advertisers that had ads at in the last quarter.
BON & VIV SPIKED SELTZER MERMAIDS
The first ad of the game was for BON & VIV Spiked Seltzer. I was in shock as I was expecting a Bud Light ad to hold the coveted first spot of the game after the coin toss. The initial thought was how does a no name drink company afford this and who are they? Of course, a little google search revealed that they are owned by the largest brewer in the world, Anheuser-Busch InBev. AB InBev owns Bud Light, Budweiser, Corona, Stella, Modelo, Goose Island, and 500+ other brands. So now, I’m less shocked. But it was a massive investment in creating awareness around this new drink in their lineup. Do I want one? No. But I’m not the spiked seltzer type. We’ll see if they can become the next Zima or Mike’s Hard Lemonade!
BUD LIGHT GAME OF THRONES
Don’t worry AB In Bev, still brought the heat for Bud Light with a series of commercials carrying on the medieval themes from year’s past. A few commercials were focused on calling out other beer brands that use corn syrup in their brewing while touting that Bud Light does not. I’m sure they did some research that told them that this is a unique selling point that they could lean into, but for me it was a big “who cares!” It’s always funny to me when the light beers start to chase the quality and healthy story. Is that why we drink it? Or is it just the cheapest 30 pack at the store?
I will say that my favorite commercial of the night was the Bud Light Game of Thrones commercial. This may not make me the most sophisticated of people in the audience, but I’m just being real. I love Game of Thrones. I’m excited it’s coming back in April. I’m watching the first season for a second time. And Budlight tapped into my passion for that show. It was an easy layup for them.
STELLA ARTOIS SIGNATURE BEER
And I’d say honorable mention to the Stella Artois ad that featured some throwback stars all known for their signature drinks replacing their drinks with Stella. For example, Carrie from Sex in the City drinks Cosmos, The Big Lebowski drinks White Russians, and The Most Interesting Man Alive drinks Dos Equis. And all of them were drinking Stella Artois instead. Very clever.
BUMBLE
The second commercial of the night right after the BON & VIV spot, was for Bumble. You wouldn’t know it at first, as it started with a monologue from Serena Williams (or was it Venus?! #twinning). But it caught my attention and a few friends in the room were commenting things like “Isn’t bumble for dating?” and “Is this a hook up app for businesses?” The commercial was speaking to women and promoting their services for finding dates, best friends, and business associates. I only caught the Bumble Bizz part of it. Maybe it was a little confusing for some people, but it made sense to me! And it had my attention since it was the second commercial of the game.
Both the BON & VIV ad and the Bumble ad are for products that needed to generate some big attention. I’d say they achieved their goals. From a strategic perspective, both products have relatively niche audiences and that money could have been better spent on targeted media. They got my attention which was the goal. Am I going to use their products? Probably not, and my guess is that half the audience right off the bat is not even in the market for these products.
DORITOS WITH BACK STREET BOYS AND CHANCE THE RAPPER…. AND …. EXPENSIFY WITH 2 CHAINZ AND ADAM SCOTT
A couple of memorable music-driven commercials later in the game came from Doritos and Expensify. Doritos took the nostalgia route showcasing the Backstreet Boys in a collaboration with Chance the Rapper. With a brand as big as Doritos, it’s just about aligning with what’s topical in culture and creating memorable moments so that we feel connected with their brand. It is great story telling which is perfect for the Super Bowl. The Expensify spot featured 2 Chainz and Adam Scott and was memorable for its music and for its comedy. This plays well against younger audiences especially. It wasn’t the most outside of the box thinking I’ve ever seen, but it was well executed, and the music was good!
ON TWITTER: FRANK’S REDHOT …. AND … PLANTER’S PEANUTS
I also did get sucked into some of the contests that happen during the Super Bowl from the brands advertising. I found Twitter contests from Frank’s RedHot and Planter’s Peanuts. I couldn’t help myself. I entered the Frank’s RedHot because it was a car giveaway. But even more interesting was the Planter’s giveaway. The prizes were random, and they gave them away consistently (every 10 minutes it seemed) during the game. Each time I had to be the first 100 to text a unique hashtag for a chance to win. The brilliant thing was that they asked you to turn your Twitter notifications on from the brand, so you’d have a better chance to win. I only heard about this promotion because I’m in marketing and follow Gary Vaynerchuk who had tweeted about it. The campaign was the brainchild of his ad agency. But it was addictive and hard not to participate even if the prize was just a year supply of peanuts!
GARY VAYNERCHUK
And for those of you in advertising and marketing who are familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk, he did some self-promotion as well offering to give away small amounts of money to people on Venmo. Apparently, he maxed out the number of requests allowed on one account because his activity was suspended that night! I love that he pulled some attention for himself and his wine company trailing on the winds of his work with brands.
SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS
Outside of ads, my favorite moment ended up being the SpongeBob Squarepants cameo during the half time show. And it wasn’t my favorite moment until I noticed people on social media getting upset about it being so short. As I dug deeper, I found out that the clip they played was an intro to a great SpongeBob music video called “Sweet Victory”. SpongeBob was included as a tribute to his creator Stephen Hillenburg who died in November. The fan response was epic and it’s the reason I love the Super Bowl. You never know what’s going to be the thing everyone is talking about the next day!
There were plenty of other good ads but those were the ones that I can recall without trying too hard. I’m sure a left-out others that may have resonated with other people so feel free to find me on Instagram (@brandonbirkmeyer) and comment with your favorites.
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Brandon Birkmeyer is the host of the Brands on Brands on Brands Podcast. I believe that building brands that matter today is the only way for a business to thrive tomorrow. Brands that are true to a purpose. Brands that put people first. Brands that build real connections.