Ads on Super Bowl connect, miss targets
NEW YORK — Some of this year’s Super Bowl ads that grabbed the greatest buzz were surprises, such as Bud Light’s Game of Thrones teaser. Other crowdpleasers focused on humour, including Amazon’s take on celebrity product testers.
While the New England Patriots bested the L.A. Rams on Sunday in Atlanta during Super Bowl 53, brands were also winning and losing off the field. Some spots, such as Google’s ad about its translation service, charmed many viewers. But others, such as Mint Mobile’s ad about “chunky milk” fell flat.
The Amazon ad was an early crowd pleaser when it was released well ahead of the game. Harrison Ford, Forest Whitaker and other celebrities test out rejected Amazon products that feature its Alexa digital assistant, such as a talking electric toothbrush and a dog collar.
Bud Light’s crossover with Game of Thrones was a hit because it came as such a surprise. What started out as the “Bud Knight” in a jousting tournament morphs into a promo for the next Game of Thrones season.
“It was super engaging and fun and surprising,” said Mark DiMassimo, chief of ad agency DiMassimo Goldstein.
To tout its partnership with Water.org, which helps provide clean water to the developing world, the beer maker shows two 1990s icons giving up their signature drinks for a philanthropysupporting brew. “The Dude” — a Jeff Bridges character from The Big Lebowski — forgoes his White Russian, while Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City eschews her cosmopolitan. The 1990s nostalgia was a hit with viewers. Hulu kicked off the evening’s surprises during the first break with an ad that started out like Ronald Reagan’s 1984 campaign ad “Morning in America.” But it was soon revealed to be a teaser for the next season of The Handmaid’s Tale. “Wake up America, morning’s over,“a voiceover stated.
“It was a great misdirect and great placement,” DiMassimo said.
An ad promoting its Google Translate service pointed out that although “words can hurt and sometimes divide,” the most translated words in the world are “How are you,” “Thank you” and “I love you.”
Kim Whitler, marketing professor at the University of Virginia, said the ad was an example of how the night’s “most powerful ads focused on unity, positivity and commonality.”
WORST Mint Mobile
The wireless provider was trying to stand out from larger rivals Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint.
The ad compares Mint Mobile’s $20-a-month wireless plan with “chunky milk,” then it shows a fake ad with a family drinking the unappetizing beverage. A mintcoloured cartoon fox says the milk is “not right,” but Mint Mobile’s plan “is right.”
“The ad could be confusing. People might just remember that Mint’s pricing is ‘not right,’ ” said Northwestern University marketing professor Tim Calkins.