SuperAds – That’s a wrap (up)

Last night the Denver Broncos demonstrated why defense is the best offense. Epic game, and a well deserved cap on an amazing career for Peyton Manning. But as far as the ads went for this historic 50th installment of the big game? Well…meh. My expectations were high! And I purposely avoided much of the pre-release hype so I could get the “full effect” of a first watch. Maybe I needed another beer. Or maybe my wife muttering “That was stupid,” now and then tainted my reaction. No matter – If I grade on a curve, there will be some stand out students in the Super Bowl ad class of 2016.

Conspicuously absent

Let me start with who was not advertising during the game this year. Where were the big ol’ American pick-up trucks? (No, a Honda Ridgeline is not a substitute.) Where was the standard T&A from Carl’s Jr. and GoDaddy? And not one single Star Wars reference to be found? Budweiser was a lack-luster showing, although they probably paid Manning a hefty amount to shout to the world (twice no less) that he was going to drink lots of Budweiser to celebrate the win. Well played, King of Beers. Even if some of our favorites were MIA, there were some clear categories formed this year.

The year of the...

Celebrity. Kevin Hart, Scott Baio, Jeff Goldblum, Ah-nold and more. Steven Tyler in both flesh and Skittle form. And, technically Ryan Reynolds twice (if you count both the Hyundai spot and the Deadpool cameo in the esurance sweepstakes spot). If you’re still asking “why would anyone spend $5 million to air a commercial” then you’d better sit down when I tell you that talent fees on some of these celebs easily drove production costs into the millions of dollars for some of these spots. CHA-CHING! The winner of the celebrity spot for me was Drake and T-Mobile, with those “other” mobile carrier execs asking him to add fine print lyrics to the current hit song Hotline Bling. Way to stay fresh, T-Mobile!

Pharma. Do you suffer from opioid constipation, body aches, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, allergies or acute toenail fungus? Then this was the best Super Bowl EVER! If these ads are an indicator of our overall health as a society, we’re in sad shape. The related category of men’s toiletries saw Axe men’s grooming products joined by a couple of razor ads. Dollar Shave Club went with humor (totally on brand) versus Schick Hydro with a Transformer-esque robot battle. In the pharma and grooming category I give the nod to Xifaxan and their “gut guy.” Anytime you can make a cute – dare I say cuddly – character out of a pile of inflamed intestines, you’ve made some magic.

Movie promotion. Did anyone else cheer out loud about seeing another installment of the Bourne series? And Matt Damon is back in the saddle. But he wasn’t alone with the movie promo; others who came to the party were X-men, Ninja Turtles, Independence Day and Jungle Book. But the big deal, literally, was how many companies partnered to integrate product and film. Coke teamed up with Marvel to show Hulk and Ant Man squabbling over a mini can. Deadpool made the appearance for esurance. But my two favorites had to be Turkish Airlines with DC, and Kung Fu Panda with Wix.com. Both of these creatively merged film with seemingly unrelated products. Using the cities of Gotham and Metropolis as destinations where Turkish Airlines flies was genius. But I have to give the win to Wix.com and Kung Fu Panda, as they parodied some of the most famous Super Bowl spots of the past in their own commercial, making it fun for all audiences.

Import automotive. Congratulations to Jeep for their 75 years of making iconic off-roaders! They have cemented themselves as a lifestyle brand. And other than the spot from Buick, Jeep carried the flag for US automakers this year, as the ads were dominated by imports Audi, Honda, Kia, and of course Hyundai, who seemed to flex their muscles as the NFL’s official auto sponsor. I’m still shocked that Honda had the gall to position a Prius as a sports car. (What’s with the bank robbery, and making heroes out of what are clearly felons?) But Honda earned a little sports car cred back with the ad for the new Acura NSX – just plain sex on wheels, backed up by a wailing David Lee Roth. I have to give a nod to Hyundai for helicopter parent Kevin Hart promoting the tracking feature of the Genesis. The big winner in this category was Audi for the R8. This was a well-told story with excellent production. Sure, most of us will never drive 205 mph, but most of us will never go to the moon, either. More to the point, R8 = rocket ship.

And then there was this…

You ever watch commercials and feel like they just tried too hard to make something funny? There was genuine “pregnant pause” in my house after the Doritos commercial aired. And a PuppyMonkeyBaby? I’d rather drink the new Dew from a dirty ashtray than have that thing dancing around my living room. Squarespace Real Talk with Key and Peele - what were they selling? And they had a whole “live stream” video set during the game. Only time will tell if people actually watch all of that content. (As of today, some of the live stream videos on YouTube have barely cracked 100 views.) Lastly, there was Marmot. Oh how I was lulled into “awe” by the ridiculously cute fuzzy woodland critter! Then it happened. And in this “uncut” extended version, it gets even weirder.

And with that, it’s a wrap on the 50 years of Super Bowl advertising blog! While I may not have belly-laughed or cried like Tammy Faye, the 2016 advertising class has graduated and the commercial line-up is history.

Thank you to the San Diego Union-Tribune for partnering with SDX, San Diego’s chapter of the American Advertising Federation, to bring viewpoints on the big game ads from advertising industry experts. If marketing and advertising is your thing, look us up.