Over the last few decades, commercials in the Super Bowl have become as much of a source of entertainment as the big game itself. Companies dish out millions of dollars just for a few seconds of getting their commercial to play during prime time. In fact, in 2015, commercials cost roughly $4 million for a thirty second spot. A commercial that expensive has to be good, and causes teams of marketers to constantly clash each other as they try to outperform their competitors.
So, here are some awards for advertisements from Super Bowl XLIX:
Most Controversial: Nationwide
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKUy-tfrIHY
If Nationwide wanted their ad to spark intense reactions on social media, they succeeded with flying colors. Seconds after it aired, it began to trend on twitter. Nationwide took a starkly different route than the usual Super Bowl spots that tend to focus on comedy. However, Nationwide decided to pull a cruel guilt trip to people who have lost a child before. The commercial outraged many, and saddened many more. In terms of achieving more success for the company, it is unsure whether the tactic will work. Still, they managed to become the most talked about commercial directly after the Super Bowl.
Biggest Flop: T-Mobile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTwzsV3I3OQ
It had many traditional elements of success with a mega-famous celebrity and a big budget, but then it made the big mistake of parodying the most heartbreaking ad ever: ASPCA ads. Instead of adorable pets that make you sad, T-Mobile went with unused gigs of data. Couple that with bad acting from the polarizing Kim Kardashian and you get a flop.
Best Use of A Celebrity: Clash of Clans
This commercial is an absolute win. They accurately showed different features of the app and had enough focus on that to draw interest in the product while tying in Liam Neeson’s classic speech from “Taken”. This commercial was the most viral of any of the Super Bowl commercials at over 40 million youtube views and growing. Clash of Clans revenue has also benefitted as they have seen an increase in revenue as well. This is how you properly use a celebrity, T-mobile.
Cutest: Budweiser
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAsjRRMMg_Q
Budweiser seems to have the cute dog, country guy, and Clydesdales commercial down. After years of using the same few characters, Budweiser elected not to change up the formula and still came away with a winner, if not their best version of the installment yet. Somehow, the beer company managed to make everyone feel extremely attached and concerned for the puppy throughout the television spot and it ended up being one of the best commercials this year.
Article by Aditya A.