Worst Super Bowl Ads...Evuh!
On February 11th, 2024 America enters a flurry of team jerseys, beer, nachos,?hot wings, heartburn, and hangovers. It’s Super Bowl time once again, which opens up that conversation about what multi-million dollar 30-second spots the marketing world is crossing its fingers will hit consumers in their wallets during the game.
We have discussed the best Super Bowl ads ad nauseam for decades, so I thought this year let’s look at the ads that dropped the advertising ball when they premiered.
As always, these are the opinions of the author and in no way reflect anyone’s tastes and preferences outside my own oddball points of view...
Apple Calls Us Lemmings:
In 1985 Apple aired a Super Bowl spot featuring a bunch of blindfolded people in suits marching off a cliff. Their point was you should be an individual and not follow the herd. The result was a disturbing ad that portrayed consumers as mindless zombies cluelessly following each other into oblivion. I still can’t remember a time when an ad worked after it insulted and condescended to the people it wanted to reach.
Jeep and Bruce Springsteen Miss the Middle:?
In 2021 Jeep unveiled this advert as a pseudo-PSA call for national unity. Springsteen asked for all people, whether red or blue, to meet in “the middle." In case you forgot, in 2021 people weren't hearing any of that. This ad felt like telling hysterical people to just calm down. That never, ever works. The brand that took the biggest hit here wasn’t Jeep. The brand that got the worst of it was The Boss. I mean c’mon Bruce. You are supposed to be the blue-collar foil to everything Madison Avenue represents. You're the people's champ! Two years later Springsteen tickets went on sale for up to $5000 a seat. Bruce…who hurt ya, fella?
Rocket Mortgage Weirdifies Jason Momoa:?
This ad haunted my dreams. In 2020 Rocket Mortgage used dreamy actor (I’m not mancrushing! You’re mancrushing!) Jason Momoa for their Super Bowl spot. They used CGI to strip him of his muscles and uglied him up in an attempt to show you shouldn't take things at face value. The output was a David Lynchian, body horror train wreck. And as we gaped at sickly-looking little Jason while the ads ran on after the game that year, we entered the worst medical crisis we had in 100 years a month later, which put a cherry on that creepy sundae.
Kendall Jenner and Pepsi Cure Racism:
It was 2017. We were in the middle of the #BLM movement sweeping the nation. In this spot, Kendall left a photoshoot to catwalk strut through a loud protest. When they reach an armed line of policemen she diffuses the whole situation by giving a cop a soft drink. My jaw hit the floor when I saw this. The spot references a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of a Vietnam War protestor putting a flower in a soldier's gun, but it got everything so wrong. And when the dookie hit the propellor about this commercial Kendall Jenner cried, "I have no idea how I'm gonna bounce back from it."?In 2023 Jenner landed on the cover of Forbes 30 under 30. I think she bounced back pretty well, whether she deserved to or not.
Nationwide Makes “Safe” Happen:
In 2015 Nationwide Insurance ran creative that featured an adorable child who was never going to do the fun things his friends did because we found out he freaking died in an accident! The narrator came in with, "At Nationwide, we believe in protecting what matters most, your kids." No insurance company makes anything "safer." They are there for when things aren't safe so we can recoup, at least financially, what we lose during disastrous events. Were they saying that if this kid's parents had invested in a Nationwide Insurance plan their kid wouldn’t have died in an accident? Seriously? And also, read the room! It isn't just the premise - it’s the placement. It aired during the Super Bowl. Did you really think some guy who was five IPAs deep, watching his team blow the spread, who was starting to feel the indigestion from the bean dip he had would have bought this pitch?
So who were your favorite losers? Let's hear 'em!