Brand Bowl Roundup: The Super Ads That Worked...And Why

It’s the Monday after the big game and that means you are likely tired from sitting on your couch for hours yesterday watching America's biggest night in TV. The big game. The commercials and the halftime entertainment. You could be nursing a hangover and are likely still thinking (and watching) the halftime show and commercials from last night today at your desk. I know I've seen J.Lo's pole dancing wardrobe change about 15 times and counting. (Thanks, Internet!)

Hey, there was even a pretty good game this year, too. What a night!

I enjoy watching football but I’m a marketer first - so I love to see what brands do with their 30-90 seconds on America’s biggest night.

If the perfect quac includes avocados, red onion, garlic and serrano peppers… the perfect Super Bowl commercial includes humor, celebrities and a good storyline.

The “super” ads this year were all about clever cross-overs. story telling and totally-cool technology. Here are my top commercials from Super Bowl 54.

1) Amazon - Amazon’s spot answers a question that many Alexa users have likely pondered before: “What did we do before Alexa?” I personally don’t use an Amazon Alexa device at home but as a potential user, I found this spot to be creative and fitting. The concept resonates with current users and potential ones, too. As a current user, I’m willing to bet you’ve likely had the thought of wondering about life before Alexa. And as a potential user, the commercial was fun and informative - showing some of the capabilities of Alexa, even if over-the-top.

2) Jeep - As I tweeted last night after seeing this commerical, nostalgia always wins. Jeep’s spot featuring Bill Murray was a creative and fun nod to the coincidence of Super Bowl Sunday also being Groundhog Day. So tying this commercial with the 1993 blockbuster hit was smart and sweet. The Jeep Gladiator enters the frame as something different - taking that that comedic relief up a notch and providing a storyline for the rest of the spot. Really well done. P.S. according to E.J. Schultz from AdAge, Jeep shot the ad just 8 days before the big game. That’s impressive.

3) Tide - Tide took storytelling to heart with their multi-ad approach to Super Bowl now, #LaundryLater. The commercial series takes the audience through a day in the life of Charlie Day who’s struggling to figure out when to do laundry on Super Sunday. Totally relatable, right? The concepts mixed in a perfect balance of fun scenarios and funny delivery that took us through the whole game. The audience connects with Charlie’s struggle, the scenarios and the comedy woven throughout. The last spot in the progression gave us all relief that Charlie finally found the time to do laundry. Kudos to Tide on this well-done series. I think we might see more ads taking this approach for future.

4) Google - If you were on Twitter during the game last night, you likely know the Google “Loretta” spot left many in tears. And yes, I was one of those touched by this story. The ad showed off some amazing functionality with a story line that tugged at heartstrings. It also showcases some features that leave access for privacy concern. While so many of us loved the sentiment of this spot - the functionality wasn’t all there. According to USA Today tech columnist Jefferson Graham, many of these features were exaggerated for the sake fo the commercial. For as good as the storytelling is in this one, it’s a bit of a bummer if the products don’t actually work this way. Though, maybe that’s something to be thankful for…

5) Hulu - We all saw Tom Brady’s tease of this Super Bowl spot early last week on Twitter…. but none of us exactly knew what to expect. Personally, I didn’t expect this spot to be a spotlight for Tom to announce his retirement - or his not retirement. But this commercial was still fun and intriguing. And had the room talking. Thanks to Tom I now know Hulu has more than just sports. Which seems like a follow up to their previous Hulu has sports commercials. That’s an expensive clarification to make.

6) Sabra - What made the Sabra commercial so memorable and fun for me was just how many celebrities were involved in this one. (19 in total) Ric Flair, Teresa Guidice, Mel B, Boomer Esiason, T-Pain, Miz Cracker and Kim Chi and even TikTok star, Charli D’Amelio - to name a few of the diverse pop culture elite who joined together to show how they ‘mmus. What’s really pertinent for this commercial is how it shows the product being used by so many unique people in so many unique ways. It’s fun, playful, upbeat and funny. A total win for VaynerMedia and Sabra - with a social sharing element that lives on beyond the first airing.

7) Doritos - After seeing the initial teasers of the Doritos spot with Sam Elliot and Lil Nas X last week, I was really looking forward to this ad - and it didn’t disappoint. Pop culturally relevant with one of the biggest songs of 2019 - and Sam Elliot made this spot super cool, and super Doritos. This was really on-par for the brand and the fans responded well for this one. That mustache dance at the start of the long form version is my favorite!

8) SodaStream - SodaStream took us to space for their super spot. Honestly, anytime we get Bill Nye is a great moment in my book. The SodaStream spot sets the scene by showing a space mission where they find water on Mars…only to show that on the way home one of the astronauts accidentally uses some of the “Mars water” to make himself a carbonated drink using their on-board SodaStream. While the concept is a bit far out, it was super funny and memorable. All things you hope for in a super spot.

I’ve talked through some of the top ads for Super Bowl 54 - but I can’t close out this round up without mentioning an unconventional super ad that has seemingly worked this year…

And that’s Mint Mobile. What’s interesting is Mint Mobile last purchased a Super Bowl commercial spot in 2019…. so why am I bringing them up now? Well, Mint Mobile decided not to pay the reported $5.6 million dollars on advertising time during the big game this year. Instead, they ran an ad in the New York Times last week to announce that they realized that spending $5 million on a Super Bowl spot in 2020, was like giving away over 300,000 months of free service from Mint Mobile. So that’s what this brand with celebrity owner is Ryan Reynolds did. The Mint Mobile team ran an ad in the Times earlier this week to explain they going to offer new customers 3-months of free service if they signed up during the game.

According to Mint Mobile (as reported by USA Today’s Jefferson Graham) - this strategy worked better than 2019 when they did purchase a Super Bowl ad. Mint Mobile says they saw a 50% increase in website traffic during the game and signed up 12X more customers versus 2019 when they ran the ad. Interesting example for creative thinking mixed with celebrity influence.

A version of this post was originally featured on RielDeal Marketing blog.

Now that you’ve had a chance to look at the super ads that worked on TV’s biggest night, what do you think about the commercials and the concepts? Comment below!