Welcome to the 26th year of Wien’s Irreverent Review of the Super Bowl Commercials.
The average viewer and many “experts” still evaluate the Super Bowl Commercials on popularity, celebrity power, or entertainment value. But in my irreverent approach, I evaluate the commercials on three simple things: 1. Did people remember the brand being advertised? 2. Did the commercial enhance the value of the brand? 3. Did it stimulate conversation on Monday morning? At $8 million for 30 seconds, it needs to do all three to be worth it.
I write this every year, not because I think I have all the right answers, but to be a little provocative and stimulate conversation. I hope this years’ commentary is more entertaining than the blow-out on Monday night.
Budweiser -The Clydesdales ad on the Super Bowl used to be the gold standard of image advertising that was relevant to the core user and still managed to pull on the heart strings. It became the perennial winner on the favorite commercial list. Then, the creative team lost their way and walked away from the winning formula. The Clydesdales are back and celebrating hard work and admiration for a job well done.
Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise – Hellmann’s plays off one of the funniest lines on the big screen in the 1989 movie, When Harry Met Sally. Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal come back to deliver the product benefit “This one is Real” in a climatic fashion. While many in Hellmann’s target audience may not have been old enough to see the original scene 36 years ago, this one still delivers.
Totino’s Pizza Rolls – Totino’s tried to leverage the equity of one of the most famous characters in the movies (ET) and rename him Chazmo. Then they killed him in front of adoring young fans, and made the fathers out to be insensitive and unsympathetic. Does anyone really expect see many people running to the store to buy pizza rolls? Message to the creative team – “Go Home.”
Mt. Dew – Now here is a great use of a relevant celebrity. Seal appears as a real seal to introduce Mt. Dew’s new flavor Baja Blast. He even sings his famous song, “A Kiss from a rose on the grey” with a twist – “A kiss from a lime on the bay.” Brilliant! Seal even adds a splash of humor by complaining that as a real seal, he cannot pick up the bottle with his flipper. (Editor’s note: Mike was the marketing director at PepsiCo, the parent company of Mt. Dew)
Coors – Mondays Beer is about fun, people, enjoyment, and celebration. It is not about recovering from a hangover. This one was light on thinking.
Bud Light -Post Malone, Shane Gillis and Peyton Manning star in an impromptu neighborhood party that uses Bud Light as the drawing card. It effectively creates an environment where you would want to be to drink beer, but I wonder how effective the product benefit of “easy to drink” is with the target audience. What is more interesting based on Bud Lights previous disaster in social media is the casting they used for the commercial which they labeled internally – Big Men on Cul-Du-Sac
Haagen-Dazs – Not So Fast, Not So Furious – Somehow, Haagen-Dazs dramatizes in an effective way why slowing down and enjoying the good things in life are sometimes a lot better than the fast and furious and makes their product the hero.
Foundation to Combat Antisemitism – Robert Kraft, the New England Patriots owner paid to run this 8 million dollar commercial featuring Robert’s famous quarterback, Tom Brady and Snoop Dogg . It is a well crafted important message, but I am not sure it has the break-through components to tackle the challenge of getting through the super bowl clutter. Right message – wrong venue.
Instacart – This is a very entertaining commercial. How many TV commercial mascots can you name that made appearances in 30 seconds? The Energizer Bunny, Mr. Clean, The Green Giant, Puppy Monkey Baby, The Kool-Aid Man, Chester Cheetah (Yeah Frito-Lay) , the Pillsbury doughboy, Elsie the cow, and Hot Dog Puppets. The game in the commercial is called “We’re here.” Ok, but where was the connection to the brand?
Uber Eats – They bring in a star studded cast that includes Matthew McConaughey Christian McCaffrey, Martha Stewart, Greta Gerwig, Charli XCX, Kevin Bacon and Sean Evans to spread the conspires theory that football was invented to make people hungry. When everyone is hungry, they order Uber Eats. Wishful thinking on Uber’s part, but effective for Super Bowl Sunday.
Door Dash – Nate Bargatze has been empowered with the ability to get great deals through Dash Pass on everything. With Dash pass, you can “Give yourself the luxury of savings.” I usually like exaggerations, but these examples might be too extreme to make the point of what the real savings will be and only disappoint the customer. I will take a pass on this one.
Pringles Mustaches – A star studded cast including Adam Brody, Nick Offerman, James Harden and coach Andy Reid do a great job of promoting Pringles Mustache logo. The disappearing mustaches are fun and very entertaining. But I am not sure what this has to do with Pringles. They forgot why people love Pringles – as a great flavor carrier. They should have never let this one out of the can. (Editors Note: Mike was in marketing with Frito-Lay, the dominate potato chip brand when Proctor and Gamble introduced Pringles in the late 1970’s,)
Reese’s Chocolate Lava – How do you make another Reese’s peanut butter cup line extension sound exciting and break through all the clutter? Blast the new filling out of a volcano and have Grandma at the verge of falling into the lava in an valiant attempt to get the candy. This one is explosive.
Booking.Com – Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog join forces to promote how Booking.Com can handle all your hotel needs and even delivers one of the key benefits, free cancellation.
Doritos -When Aliens appear in a UFO to grab a bag of DORITOS brand Tortilla Chips, our hero refuses to let the bag go. When the Alien finally wins, his spaceship explodes and the alien ends up sharing the bag with our hero. OK, I admit this sounds crazy, but when you have a well known fun brand like DORITOS, crazy can be break-through, remembered and effective. (Editor’s note: Mike worked on the launch of Nacho Cheese Doritos at Frito-Lay 50 years ago. )
Ray Ban – Chris Pratt, Chris Hensworth and Kris Jenner’s attempt to communicate the benefits of the new AI glasses was ridiculous. The creative was humorous, but the power of AI imbedded in glasses was out of focus.
Go Daddy Airo – With the magic of technology, Walton Goggins can be anywhere, doing almost anything while staying in his studio. The same can be said about technology for building a great website with Airo. Go Daddy has come a long way from hosting websites based on sexy advertising to developing websites based on the power of the development tools.
Squarespace – I have been very negative about Squarespace’s Super Bowl advertising for many years because while being very creative, it had no connection with the service. This year they got it right and focused on their service – “A website makes it real” in a most creative way. Four shamrocks for this one.
HexClad – Gordon Ramsay was hired to promote HexClad cookware. This is a great use of a celebrity chef to draw attention to a set of pans that were developed using material from an alien spacecraft 8 years ago. The details are very funny but become overwhelming to the message about the pans. Pete Davidson was hired to make the commercial even funnier and more confusing and that makes the product an alien to any potential buyer.
Stella Artois – David Beckham and Matt Damon are reunited as brothers they never knew and discover a common interest – their love of Stella Artois. This commercial does a nice job of leveraging the star power of David Beckham.
Michelob Ultra – An older couple (Catherine O’Hara and Willem Dafoe) challenges an overconfident younger couple to a game of pickleball and the stakes are who buys the beer. If Michelob Ultra’s target audience is older beer drinkers that I believe it is, this one is well served.
Little Caesars Crazy Puffs – Here is another example of a company doing something dramatic to bring attention to a new product extension. However, unlike in the Reese’s example, the flying eyebrows were a distraction and crazy.
Dove – This is an example of a powerful commercial that does not need to say anything about the product, but says everything about the brand. For the benefit of all young ladies including my two granddaughters, I am going to repeat all the words in the commercial. At 3 these legs are unstoppable. At 14 she’ll think they are unbearable. 1 in 2 girls who quit sports are criticized for their body type. Let’s change the way we talk to our girls (and granddaughters.) #KeepHerConfident
Starbucks – Yes a company can spend 16 million dollars in 60 seconds and focus on specific brand attributes and still be effective. This commercial reminds consumers that the brand stands for more than coffee and is in good taste.
Google Pixel 9 With Gemini Live – OK, I have to admit I am a softy when companies try to make an emotional connection with their customers through advertising. Google not only does this is a effective way but they also do an interesting job in humanizing Artificial Intelligence.
Lays – Here is another commercial that attempts to connect the brand emotionally to the consumer. I love the story, but I am not sure it can keep the audiences attention and making that emotional connection with potato chips might be to high of a bar. (Editors Note: Mike worked as an associate product manager on Lay’s in the 1970s.)
Pepsi – 50 years ago Pepsi Introduced the Pepsi Challenge – a national taste test against Coke and won. The scary thing for me is that I started working for PepsiCo in marketing that year. Wow, does time fly. While I think it is a great idea as an on location promotion for bottlers, I am not sure how effective the announcement will be for consumers.
Science Moms on Global Warming – There are a lot of people who are really worried about climate change and the effects it will have on future generations. This commercial does a great job of trying to tie climate change to the impact on the current generation with the line, “Climate change is taking the places we love.” Bravo for the commercial, but the Science Moms might be spending important dollars in the wrong venue.
Ritz Salty Club Crackers – Aubrey Plaza and Michael Shannon are in character as they complain about everything at the party in a salty way. Bad Bunny cuts in to help deliver the product benefits – buttery and salty. If you are a fan of Aubrey and Michael, it works. If not, it probably is not your cup of tea.
SToK Coffee – Channing Tatum is brought in by Wrexham AFC (Soccer – Football in the rest of the world) to put some energy into the team with some impressive dance moves. This might be an attempt to appeal to women in the audience, but the connection to cold brewed coffee is a little murky.
Coffee Mate – I am not sure if this ad was designed to be sexually explicit to break through the clutter or not, but whatever the strategy, the creative highjacks any message about the product. The tag line for the ad is “Let’s go tongues.” What were they thinking?
After spending 28 years in senior marketing roles at Frito-Lay, Pepsi, CitiBank, Omni Hotels and Deloitte, Mike left the Corporate World to teach Marketing and Franchising at Georgia State University. Seven years ago, Mike semi-retired, moved to Boulder, Colorado to spend more time skiing, training for upcoming races and spending time with his 4 grandchildren. Mike still works with a few clients on marketing strategy or providing keynote speeches to companies on gaining a competitive advantage or a “Specific Edge.”
Mike Wien
The Specific Edge Institute
Boulder, Colorado