Super Bowl Advertisements
It is estimated that in the first 50 years of the Super Bowl, 4.5 billion dollars were spent on advertising therein. Now that Super Bowl LV has passed, the commercials are yet as anticipated as the game itself, and to some, maybe even more. Not all commercials are created equal, and some are more favored than others by the viewers. So, which ones are getting most praise?
Much has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including this event, which saw restrictions such as a 30% seating capacity, and some big names of Super Bowl ads sacrificing their commercial spots for the cause. The USA Today “Ad Meter” tracks statistics and popular opinions on Super Bowl ads and has rated Budweiser the company with the best ads over the most years. However, Budweiser did not put forth a commercial this year, and instead ran a public service announcement on COVID-19 vaccine awareness. Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Hyundai, and Avocados from Mexico are all known by the community for their Super Bowl commercials (Pepsi even being second to Budweiser, as ranked by the Ad Meter), though none of them contributed this year either. Pepsi, instead, sponsored the half-time performance. However, many new companies joined the ranks of Super Bowl advertisers, including Huggies, Chipotle, Hellman’s, DraftKings, and Fiverr.
That said, the general consensus has decided on some favored commercials to pay special attention to. Due to celebrity appearance from musical artist Drake, the State Farm commercial got much attention, using the pun “Drake from State Farm” alongside their usual “Jake from State Farm”.
The Toyota commercial became popular for its appeal to emotion, expressing a positive message that “We believe there is hope and strength in all of us.” It summarized the story of competitive swimmer Jessica Long, whose legs were amputated as a child, but who rose to the present challenge regardless.
General Motors pulled out all the stops, advocating their EV product by telling a brief comedy story, casting three famous actors, Will Ferrel, Kenan Thompson, and Awkwafina. The advertisement traces their journey to Norway (the country that is ahead of the United States in electric car production) on a mission to restore America to its glory.
Huggies played the cute card, putting the viewers in the place of a baby and giving a rundown of what the world will be like for them as they grew up.
Bud Light advertised their new lemonade product with a comedy sketch using the thesis “2020 was a lemon of a year” (playing on the saying, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade), and featured lemons raining on the world and disrupting all sorts of activities.
There were 47 commercials run in Super Bowl LV, and these are the ones getting the most attention. Which was your favorite?
https://www.adnews.com.au/news/15-super-bowl-ad-facts-that-you-need-to-know
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/sporting/videos/g3236/biggest-super-bowl-ads/
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/08/us/best-super-bowl-commercials-trnd/index.html
Johnny Sarro, grade 12. His interests are linguistic, historical, scientific, and musical studies. He is involved with marching band, jazz band, and musical...
