Media Cause Hot Takes: Super Bowl Ads
Sunday, February 2, 2020, marked the biggest day in advertising: The Super Bowl. And while we respect both teams on the field, we were really there for the ads.
For this year’s big game, each 30-second spot cost approximately $5.6 million. That’s $186,666 per second. That kind of money could get you a very nice lakefront home in rural Wisconsin…every second. And that’s not including production costs, hiring all-star celebrity talent, or the creative work that had to go into it.
With that kind of cash flying around, we wanted to share our thoughts on the 2020 Super Bowl ads:
“Ellen and Portia’s debut in Amazon’s “Before Alexa” Super Bowl ad grabbed my attention immediately. Although I was drawn more to the celebrities than the product, it made me thrilled to see the day-to-day life of a queer couple aired (and normalized) in one of the most-watched spaces in the nation.” – Janine Guarino, Account Strategist
“While this wasn’t the favorite for most of our Boston office, I loved the Smaht Pahk ad. While it took me a moment to remember what car brand it was actually for (it was Hyundai), I thought writing the list of locations of parking spots that Rachel Dratch and Chris Evans asked John Krasinski was, well, wicked smart. The specificity, combined with what words actually sounded funnier with a Boston accent couldn’t have been an easy task and I appreciate the solid writing.” – Sarah Ackerman, Senior Copywriter + Content Strategist
“The Super Bowl ad that resonated with me the most was for Bud Light Seltzer featuring Post Malone. This ad worked for two main reasons: They picked the perfect celebrity for their target market (which I think was obviously millennial males/females) and they added creativity to the concept of the ad instead of exclusively relying on Post Malone’s celebrity power. They get extra points from me for including a pre-social media post that asked Post Malone’s fans to vote on 1 of 2 ads that would make it on air during the Super Bowl. I am also well aware that I fall within their target market for this product, so kudos to them for really capturing the attention of their audience!” – Maggie Rakovic, Account Strategist
“P&G has notably been in the news lately about trying to focus their brands around specific “citizenship” areas around community impact, diversity and inclusion, gender equality, as well as their overall sustainability efforts. So for them to spend such incredible amounts of money on a spot that celebrates what can be accomplished when all of their various brands “come together,” but the outcome is stains being cleaned and tushies being wiped instead of any kind of meaningful impact…it feels a bit incongruous to me.” – Amy Small, VP Creative + Brand Strategy
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