Insights from the Super Bowl LI Big Game Ads

Budweiser is one of the longest-running Super Bowl advertisers as well as having some of the most memorable ads. The beer brand has been trying to set themselves apart the last couple of years from its competition (commercial or craft beers). Budweiser’s commercial from the 2016 Super Bowl attacked craft beers outright and had the tagline, “Not Backing Down.” This year, they changed their tone to a more inclusive brand-centric story. The original intention of Budweiser’s cinematic “Born the Hard Way” was to show a little bit of Anheuser-Busch’s 165 year-old history to remind consumers there is heart and soul behind the beer. As told to Adweek, the ad "isn’t just an opportunity for Budweiser to tout its heritage; it will also introduce the brand’s new marketing messaging for the year and likely longer."

 

We all think it was well-done and cinematic, and appreciate the thought and planning that went into the campaign. Despite some historical inaccuracies that could make some people feel wary, it was overall a good marketing move. However, no one can deny the concurrence of the broadcast with the current political climate. As a result, the impact of Budweiser’s ad was significantly increased, from being touted as an inspirational and epic immigrant story, to a political move against the current administration's stance on immigration.  The company itself maintains that despite the political relevance, the story of Adolphus Busch is the center of the message: "It’s the pursuit, the effort, the passion, the drive, the hard work, the ambition, that’s really what this is about more than anything else.”

Before anything else, Audi's 60-second ad "Daughter" looks beautiful. Set in a warm, moody treatment that evokes American grit and with a deep, charismatic voiceover of a father's voice feeling elegant and tender at the same time. By all aspects, the ad is meant to tug at the heartstring, a father's love and hope for his daughter to withstand odds against her in a male-dominant society. At the end of the ad, Audi drives the point home in case there was any doubt of its message, and turns it into a political stand: "Audi of America is committed to equal pay for equal work. Progress is for everyone." Audi uses the ad to introduce #DriveProgress, which will be used in the coming year to promote new and ongoing initiatives, according to the press release. The feedback is again mixed -- the pay equality debate dividing many opinions. On our Google sheets survey, our events intern Melody wrote: "Love the message, but dislike the company for their lack of authenticity. Great takeaway from the ad as it raises awareness on gender stereotypes/equality, but the ad backfires as Audi does not practice their message in their own company."

The idea of a live Super Bowl ad was definitely interesting to us, but we can't help but feel that the execution was lacking. To prove the commercial was indeed live, Snickers arranged for a 36 hour Facebook live stream from the commercial set. Campaign Live did a recap of what Snickers did to fill those 36 hours. There was a can of beans with the caption, “guess how many beans are in this can,” a “security duck,” and guest appearances by Tyler Oakley and Betty White. However, for those who did not watch the live stream, Snickers made sure it was obvious when the ad aired. The text “LIVE” appeared on the screen for a split second at the beginning, and Adam Driver mentions the current score, “21-3” to provide additional proof the commercial was live.

 

When Driver misses his cue and makes a mess, it all happens fast and the entire commercial falls apart. The humor in the ad was that everything goes wrong in the live ad, set pieces fall etc, and there was no take two, because it was shown in real time. However, if you weren't paying attention to the build up, it gets confusing real quick.  The idea falls flat when you're aware that they planned for things to go wrong, and so it all happened as planned, even though it was supposed to show that things can't always happen as planned when live. The commercial ends with the line, “You ruin Super Bowl commercials when you’re hungry,” supposed to be a continuation of Snicker’s ongoing theme of commercials showing characters who weren't themselves because they were hungry. Although, it was hard to tell that that was the point even after the follow-up spot where Driver apologizes for ruining the initial ad. Overall though, we get where Snickers was going with it (nice try!) and hope this might mean we see more live ads in the future!

Mr. Clean's augmented reality-style ad showing a sexy version of the brand's icon gets a mention from us not just for the humor (and truth-yes, guys who clean are sexy), but for their social media status during the game. While the Snickers' live Super Bowl ad almost requires the other real-time media platforms in their execution, Mr. Clean made a case for engaging on social media - by being a clever troll. During the game, the brand tweeted planned reactions to other ads as they aired as well as live tweeting game updates.

.@skittles Funny ad, but who's gonna clean up after all the Skittles they missed? #MrClean #SB51

— Mr. Clean (@RealMrClean) February 5, 2017

Many Big Game Ad lists say Mr. Clean did well in being universally enjoyable, and we agree. Certainly amusing and even refreshing, Mr. Clean's ad made it memorable without any controversy, and may be the source of many memes to come.

Hyundai's "A Better Super Bowl" was simple and complex all at once. The message was simple: connect military personnel and their families (always works) to bring them a better Super Bowl experience.  The commercial wasn’t a stunt or a stretch in terms of Hyundai’s values. Hyundai has supported the U.S. military for years by working with dealerships near military bases, developing incentive programs, and being rated as a top employer of military personnel. Hyundai chose to highlight their campaign “Better Drives Us” slogan by starting off with something every American can get behind- supporting our troops. 

 

As simple and effective as the message may be, the execution was complex: to film the ad during the Super Bowl and have it ready to air by the end of the game. We felt that Hyundai and their agency Innocean took things to the next level, and could not have happened without collaborating with the NFL, Fox Sports and US Department of Defense. It usually takes a few weeks just to produce the shooting portion of the commercial and then another few weeks to get to the final, client approved cut. Hyundai's team did it all in one hour. To film, edit, and air a commercial within the span of a football game is such an incredible feat that we deem Hyundai’s “A Better Super Bowl” the winning ad from Super Bowl LI.