The Super Bowl is a classic time for people to gather together in a communal setting. People are most often willing to watch for one of two reasons: the game or the commercials. Through the years there have been commercials that warm your heart, make you laugh, make you cry and some are created just to stir the pot. The average price for a 30 second ad airing during the Super Bowl was a record $5.6 million this year. When brainstorming ideas for an ad, it is the company’s goal to create content that is more memorable than anything else the audience would see throughout the game.
This year’s commercials ranged from leaving the audience in tears to completely confused. Some tugged on the heartstrings, some highlighted girl power, some were humorous and some left us thinking “what just happened?”
BEST:
Google:
One of the most memorable commercials this year came from Google. It started with the Google search engine and the phrase “how to not forget.” Throughout the ad, a voiceover of an elderly man was telling Google to remind him of all the things he loved about his late wife Loretta. As the ad progresses, the audience slowly gets more emotional and invested in their love story.
“The Loretta commercial was like watching a modern-day Notebook that happened to be only a minute and a half long,” said Gracie Sloan, senior public relations major. “I loved every second of it, and I am not embarrassed- okay maybe a little- to say I was teary eyed through the whole thing.”
Google took the audience on an emotional roller coaster and allowed them to get invested in the love story presented, which is why it is one of the most memorable ads from the Super Bowl. Audiences often enjoy storylines the most when they can connect on some sort of emotional level, and the story of Loretta was able to grab not only the hopeless romantics of the audience, but even some of the tough guys were moved by the end.
Little Caesars:
Little Caesars declared their delivery service as “the best thing since sliced bread,” and then cut to the “Sliced Bread Headquarters” where the employees are frantically trying to come up with a new “best thing.” It was a classic example of what a Super Bowl commercial should be- just dramatic enough to entertain the audience without being annoying.
This ad appealed to any audience because of its innocent humor and simplicity. Anyone watching was able to follow along with the storyline and appreciate the comedic elements paired with a classic pizza delivery service- can’t beat that!
Alexa:
Amazon created an ad that featured Ellen DeGeneres as she wonders what life was like before Alexa. The commercial goes through the ages of carrying pigeons, jesters and paper boys by showing how people were entertained and informed before the technology of Alexa. It was another example of a good balance of humor and practicality that Alexa brings into its users lives.
WORST:
Genesis:
John Legend and his wife Chrissy Teigen are very familiar faces in the entertainment industry. Legend is known for his music while Teigen is known for being a model and not being afraid to speak her mind. The two appear to be attending a luxurious party when Teigen gets up to give a speech before later escaping in a “new luxury” Genesis SUV. The speech and ad as a whole have a very awkward feel about it. The premise behind the ad had good intentions, but the end product left the audience feeling confused. There was seemingly no connection between the car and the party.
Because of the lack of connection between the storyline and brand itself, the audience was unable to find any reason to pay attention. It did not try to connect with any sort of demographic and the product itself wasn’t presented until the very end, so most people used this time to get up and grab another snack before the game came back on.
Snickers:
Most are familiar with the tagline “you’re not yourself when you’re hungry.” This year, Snickers took it to another level. In this year’s commercial, a group of people gathered together to sing a song about how the world is “out of sorts” because babies are being named after produce and robots are taking over. Obviously, they need Snickers to fix things. The people singing throughout the ad are basically tone deaf, which adds a comedic element to the already strange commercial.
Avocados from Mexico:
One of the most noticeably unimpressive commercials was by Avocados from Mexico. It starts with what looks like a cheesy infomercial featuring Molly Ringwald and continues to show different products you can buy for your avocado. The absurd products such as the Avo-Carrier and luxury Avocado Yurt left people wondering if this was a real commercial, and the answer is yes, it was. It was very cheesy, but not in an entertaining way.
Avocados from Mexico struggled to actually connect their product to what was going on throughout the commercial. The way the product was presented kept the audience wondering when the actual message would be displayed, and when it was, reactions included, “Wait, what?” ,”That was a real commercial?”, and so on . The company tried (and failed) to keep things light and comedic, but in the end was unsuccessful.
Not good, not bad, just weirdly memorable:
Doritos:
Everyone is familiar with the song “Old Town Road” and often rolls their eyes as soon as they hear it playing. In the Doritos commercial, singers Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus along with Sam Elliot are featured in an old western setting. They then face off by showing off their strange dance moves in order to win the bag of chips. Overall, the ad was culturally relevant but struggled when it came to an actual storyline.
Cheetos:
Cheetos used its own product to show how eating it will benefit your life. In the ad, the basic idea was that if you eat Cheetos, you are able to get out of doing things such as helping your boss at work, working out or holding crying babies. Similar to the Doritos commercial, Cheetos used a song that everyone is familiar with and connected it with the inevitable consequence of eating the product.
Planters:
In the Planter’s commercial, several iconic figures such as Mr. Clean and the Kool-Aid Man are gathered around for the funeral of Mr. Peanut. On January 22, 2020 Mr. Peanut was pronounced dead, according to Twitter. This was a strange phenomenon considering he is simply the mascot for a company, but in the Super Bowl commercial, a baby peanut was born to take his place and has since created a new Twitter account.
“The Mr. Peanut commercial evoked many emotions: nostalgia, anger, sadness, which was then followed by a renewed sense of happiness,” senior Economics major, Jennifer Briley, said. “When they unveiled the new Mr. Peanut, albeit not the same as before, it brought about happiness since an iconic symbol in the snack world gets to live on.”
The whole idea behind this ad was confusing. It was difficult for viewers to determine what emotion was supposed to be felt, but baby peanut almost lives up to the same hype as baby Yoda, so it was definitely something that stuck out to certain audiences.
Overall, there was a wide variety of commercials that impacted the audience in different ways. Some companies were able to grab and maintain viewers attention, while others were not as successful. Compared to previous years, the commercials seemed a bit boring, but still provided “entertainment” for those that were only there for the ads.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons