Super Bowl LIV Commercials
Entertaining game and congratulations to the Chiefs on their victory.
And the Super Bowl of ads… here’s how I saw it. Let me know your thoughts and favorites @StephenLEckert or here. Lots of good creative – I chose two best commercials: Wal-Mart and Jeep Gladiator. Read about them and watch below.
Best Super Bowl Commercial: First Half
Wal-Mart – Pickup Service
Creative isn’t the end all, humor isn’t the purpose of a commercial. Explaining a product or service is the purpose. Doing that with cool effects and humor is a bonus. Wal-Mart shows their pick-up service is for anyone… from Captain Kirk to Lego spaceman to Arrival’s heptapods (glass cleaner? – hilarious). Promotes a service in an engaging, memorable way.
Best Super Bowl Commercial: Second Half
Jeep Gladiator
Not sure if the target market for the Jeep Gladiator remembers the movie Groundhog Day from the theater (I doubt it). But sometimes creative is too good to pass up. The Super Bowl on February 2nd? Your product is a pick-up truck and Bill Murray’s character stole a (Chevy) pick up with the groundhog? You must do it! Having Bill Murray re-enact his role but in this version he’s enjoy repeating his day because of the Jeep Gladiator. Brilliant.
Other commercials that actually sold a feature
Hyundai
Not sure why Boston accents (and why didn’t they have a Wahlberg brother!), but fun creative and shows a feature (self parking). Hyundai consistently combines product features, benefits and good creative (remember the Kevin Hart commercial using the Hyundai tracking device to keep up with his dating daughter?).
T-Mobile
It works in the club! Funny with Anthony Anderson getting calls from his mom about her new 5G phone. It works everywhere! That’s selling a feature in a very relatable way.
Mountain Dew No Sugar
A rediculous creative spoof of horror films to introduce new Mountain Dew flavor. Great way to make a new product memorable.
Discover
No and Yes Spots. Clever, quick cuts between TV and movie “no” or “yes” moments with the payoff being that Discover has no fees (in the “no” spot) and is taken at 95% of retailers and restaurants (in the “yes” spot). A good ad that reinforces features and benefits.
Pepsi
Rolling Stone “Paint it Black” (from a red can). Direct swipe at Coke Zero. Young stars singing the praises of your product is always good. Good awareness ad. Doesn’t really prove it’s better than Coke. Of course, how would you in a TV spot? Oh wait, they did that with the Pepsi Challenge (look it up).
Fun for fun’s sake…
Okay, I hear you, I hear you. Can’t there just be well-produced, creative ads that show off a product. Yup…
Doritos
Doritos spot featuring Lil Nas and Sam Elliott “make your move” (love the dancing mustache) with a Billy Ray Cyrus cameo was silly and fun. Not sure it sells Doritos, but the speakers on the back of the horse was a LOL.
Cheetos
Funny, sort of selling an anti-benefit… orange dust-covered fingers will keep you from having to change diapers, move couches, etc. Probably a sign of my age but enjoyed the MC Hammer cameo a lot.
Pringles
Great concept with Rick and Morty but didn’t focus on the many flavors enough.
Mr. Peanut
Paying off Mr. Peanut dying in previous spots. Or trying to play on the popularity of Baby Yoda? I wonder…
And then there was…
Worst Super Bowl Commercial
Olay
“Space for Women”. I’m all for women in the science fields, love the effort to promote science to women. But Olay’s creative made women look silly – no one but the astronaut realizes there is a lot of space in space? Then the end of the commercial is one of the women pushing the ejection button without finding out what it does first? Bad, insulting non-humor. Wasted effort, could have been executed much better.
New York Life
Nice, but ineffective, commercial to celebrate 175 years. Inwardly focused… and that’s fine if you want to spend $5 million to make your shareholders and employees feel good. Interesting to define the four types of love in the Greek language, but the creative took too long to develop and the connection to New York life services and agape love was a stretch at best. At best…
Michelob Ultra
Buy a six-pack and Michelob will convert six square feet of farmland to organic. Really? That’s why I’m buying your beer? Corporate virtue signaling at its best (and worst). That’s a 1 ft by 6ft slice. Sounds amazing. There are 39,857,400,000,000 square feet of farmland in the U.S. Don’t drink that much… please. Jimmy Fallon is always funny, so that Ultra spot was at least enjoyable.
Ultra totally punk’d by Saint Archer Gold spot with a young beer seeker passing by Ultra in three stores to find Gold based on better taste. Guess he doesn’t care about farmland.
Hard Rock Hotel
JLo, DJ Khalid, sparkle cup. What the…
Intuit Turbotax
The spot running in the weeks before the Super Bowl was a better spot. What does the dancing mean? The earlier commercial made the point that Americans are good at taking photos (we are – we all carry a camera everywhere, every day) and therefore can be good at taxes. That spot was selling their service and was a better ad.
Bud Light and Tide Power Pods
I’m over the Bud Light Knight. Should have left them dead at last year’s Super Bowl with the Game of Thrones cross-promotion. Post Malone spot wasn’t much better. Did like the Tide guy running into Wonder Woman and just stopping at her “request”.
Audi
Let it go. Please. What a waste of an expensive song licensing fee. And exactly how does she get out of traffic?!? Just because she has an electric car the roads open up? Wish it were so…
Nice Touch
Verizon 5G
Nice honoring of first responders. Good to see a technology company acknowledge the importance of non-technology.
All in all
Lot of fun spots (many not covered here) and great creative. A good Super Bowl of commercials. Let me know your thoughts and favorites @StephenLEckert or here.