Weekly Must Reads: Super Bowl Ad Roundup

Written by Kelsey

February 14, 2023

The Kansas City Chiefs weren’t the only winners of the Super Bowl last weekend. Throughout the night, we saw lots of creative, funny, heart-warming, and surprising ads from big brands and newcomers alike. Check out our list below for the top commercials from the night that you need to re-watch.

Buzziest Moment: “Interface Interruption”

Super Bowl newcomer Tubi knows it doesn’t take much to create a commercial that gets the crowd buzzing. All you need is a simple, well-executed ad that forces people to pay attention. For Tubi, that meant pranking the audience with a commercial that appeared to interrupt a return to the football broadcast with a scroll through their platform interface. The sudden change sounded so believable, people really believed they had just sat on their TV remote and changed the channel. According to Tubi co-founder Greg Hahn, their platform is “the troublemaker of the streaming world,” and if their first big game commercial is any indicator, it’s a role their ready for.

Best Use of Celebrity: “Drive-Thru”

Anyone who’s been on the Internet in the past several years has seen the memes about Ben Affleck’s love for Dunkin’. So, for the debut Super Bowl commercial, the brand decided to tap into their most famous fan’s star power. This ad, which also earned a lot of buzz on social media, shows Affleck posing as a Dunkin’ drive-thru worker in Boston. He’s in his element, taking orders, posing for selfies through the window and asking customers “Do I look familiar?” The spot is funny enough on its own, but the surprise JLo appearance takes it over the top. The star pulls up to see her husband working the window and immediately quips “Is this what you’re doing when you say you’re at work all day?!” It’s funny, it’s genuine and it just works.

Best Brand Collaboration: “Why Not An EV?”

Given their recent agreement to feature GM’s electric vehicles in their original programming, it makes sense that Netflix tapped their new partner to tackle a Super Bowl commercial together. The spot stars recurring GM spokesperson Will Ferrell as he explains how EVs make sense in any scenario – even in scenes from Netflix’s hit shows. The ad manages to prominently feature both brands’ products while still feeling more like entertainment than a hard sell. With funny pop culture references, memorable one-liners, and a beloved celebrity, it’s got the makings of a classic Super Bowl commercial.

Best Storytelling: “The High Stakes Beer Ad”

You have to give credit to a company that manages to pull off an action movie fight sequence and surprise twist ending in a one-minute commercial. For weeks, parent company Molson Coors had teased the ad by pitting its Coors Light and Miller Lite brands against each other to win the starring spot in the commercial. Consumers could even place a bet with DraftKings on the brand they thought would come out on top. In the commercial itself, we see two men battling it out with respective beer bottles in hand, fighting for naming rights of the ad. Instead, at the very last second, a pint of Blue Moon swoops in to take its place under the spotlight and win the commercial. It’s a twist no one saw coming, and a rare occurrence when the ad actually surpassed the pre-game hype.

Biggest Recurring Theme: Reboots & Reunions

Each year’s Super Bowl commercials seem to have a recurring theme. For example, last year was dubbed the “Crypto Bowl” due to the sudden influx of ads promoting cryptocurrency exchanges. This year, multiple brands used their big game spot to reunite beloved costars or riff on classic movies to connect with consumer interests. Online retailer Rakuten recreated scenes from “Clueless,” with Alicia Silverstone reprising her role as Cher to explain the benefits of shopping on Rakuten. In PopCorners’ ad, the stars of “Breaking Bad” reunited to concoct the addicting snack food products. Michelob Ultra hopped on the trend, too, with an ad featuring Serena Williams and actor Brian Cox in a spoof of the film “Caddyshack.” While none of these commercials earned top spots on the ad meter themselves, the increased use of this strategy tells us we can expect more reunions and pop culture references in our commercials throughout the coming year.

Honorable Mention: Fenty Beauty

We would be remiss not to include any mention of Rihanna and the Apple Music Halftime Show in our roundup. In recent years, Rihanna has become just as well-known for her makeup line as her music catalog. In the middle of her first live performance in seven years, the star took a brief pause to reapply her makeup using one of her own Fenty Beauty products. The subtle yet pointed product placement won over audiences on Twitter. Users noted Rihanna’s smart business moves and praised it as “the best ad of the night.” Fenty Beauty also rolled out a new red lipstick at halftime – the lipstick Rihanna wore on stage during the performance, to be exact. You can read more about the Fenty Beauty tie-ins here: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/beauty/make-up-nails/a42853845/rihanna-super-bowl-fenty-beauty/

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