Tag: Super Bowl LIV Ads

The Road to Super Bowl LIV Wrap Up

The Kansas City Chiefs won their first Super Bowl in over fifty years against the San Fransisco 49er’s last Sunday 31-20 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The two teams were tied going into halftime, but then KC scored 21 points in the 4th quarter to seal the game. Patrick Mahomes, the Chief’s quarterback, was the youngest player ever to earn both MVP honors and a Super Bowl. And it’s the first title for their coach, Andy Reid, 61, who up until Sunday night had been known as the best head coach to have never won a Super Bowl or NFL championship. This was his second Super Bowl appearance in his 21-year head coaching career.

Besides the ads, people were talking about how great Demi Lovato sang the national anthem after she just recently had a emotional performance on the Grammy’s.

The other big winners of the day were Shikira and Jennifer Lopez who performed for the Pepsi Halftime show. Their performance has gotten more coverage then the game itself.  Alex Rodriquez, J-Lo’s finance, tweeted while dancing with the audience, “AMAZING!! She ABSOLUTELY CRUSHED IT! Wow, that was so fun!”

Now back to the ads. Which one was your favorite? While the majority of the ads focused on humor, the ad that instead tugged at our heartstrings, Google’s “Loretta”, was the most effective ad of the year according to video ad tech company Unruly. I had seen the ad already since it had been released before the game, but still have to admit it choked me up a bit. It brought back memories of my parents who we had lost our mom seven years before dad. However, I still don’t understand what Google’s Assistant is really all about, so I may look into it a bit. One article I read pointed out that it was strange that Google spent this much money to show us a different way to catalog our photos.

Two of the top three ads by most articles I’ve read, including USA Today’s Ad Meter, were automobile ads. At number one was Bill Murray who was featured in Jeep’s Groundhog Day ad, along with an adorable groundhog.  This made perfect sense with Super Bowl Sunday being on Groundhog Day this year. Number Two was the Smaht Pahk, Hyundai Sonata’s Remote Smart Parking Assist feature which included David “Big Papi” Ortiz among others. I had to go back and watch the Jeep ad  since I missed it during the actual game…it was worth it.

One of my personal favorites, Weathertech’s Lucky Dog ad, featured Scout, a golden retriever cancer survivor. I also have a golden retriever, Molly, and as I wrote in last’s week post, my daughter attend the the University of Madison’s Veterinary School and is now a vet. So I am partial to this ad.

Another first was made in this year’s Super Bowl game with Offensive Assistant Coach of the 49ers, Katie Sowers, on the field. She is opening the door for women and LGBT people to help them pursue any career that they chose. Thanks to Microsoft for showcasing her in their ad Be The One: Katie Sowers.

Pepsi, which sponsors the Super Bowl halftime show, drove the largest Twitter conversation share with its interactive tweet campaign, which invited users to guess elements of the half time show. Pepsi used its campaign to drive awareness for Pepsi Zero Sugar, which included giveaways and major prizes tied into its new offerings. People were invited to Tweet #PepsiSweepstakesOK every time someone said OK during the broadcast to enter for a chance to win.

So we experienced a pretty good football game, some memorable performances by J-Lo, Shakira, and Demi Lovato and also were entertained by Bill Murray, those folks from Boston, Baby Nut, Lil Nas X and Sam Elliott, and a host of others. It was a fun few hours to spend at the start of February.

Here’s looking forward to the next NFL season. Hope you enjoyed my posts.

The Road to Super Bowl LIV continues with the release of more ads including this WeatherTech ad featuring Scout

This Sunday, February 2, Super Bowl LIV will finally take place in Miami at Hard Rock stadium. It will include the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the San Francisco 49ner’s. Since the NFL Conference Championship games that were played almost two weeks ago now there have been many Super Bowl ads and teasers released. An average 30-second spot ad during this year’s Super Bowl costs over $5 million and up to $5.6 million.

One of the ads that you’ve must have heard about was a 30-second teaser from Planters in which they killed off their iconic Mr. Peanut mascot. This was one of the ads that had been getting the most responses on social media. Many were posting tributes to the mascot, who was created in 1916. Planters planned to run the ad on television before the game, along with a spot of Mr. Peanut’s funeral during the game’s third quarter. The brand was encouraging people to “pay their respects” by participating in its social media campaign and by entering a contest to win Mr. Peanut swag.

However, due to the real and horrific death of nine people in the helicopter crash that included Kobe Bryant and this 13-year old daughter, Gianna, the brand has paused their campaign. A spokesperson for Planters said that the pause only impacts paid advertising on channels like Twitter and YouTube an some other outreach in the immediate wake of this tragedy. However, they have not yet said that they are changing their plans for Super Bowl Sunday which includes a spot that features Mr. Peanut’s Funeral.

Walmart announced this week that it will air its first-time Super Bowl television commercial to highlight the benefits of its expanding pickup service. Walmart was actually founded five years before the first Super Bowl in 1967 and has held out as an advertiser in the Big Game for more than 50 years up till now. The ad it titled “Famous Visitors” includes a 60-second TV spot which will run during the game that shows 12 characters from popular movies and TV programs who “touch down on Earth” from “across the galaxy” to collect groceries and other products at Walmart curbside pickup stations.

Here’s an ad that has not gotten much publicity but was shared on Facebook by my daughter Alex, who is a veterinarian. A 30-second commercial from WeatherTech will feature the University of Wisconsin Madison’s School of Veterinary Medicine that will air Sunday during the game’s second quarter. WeatherTech, an automotive accessories, home and pet care products manufacturer, is paying for this $6 million spot along with supplying the talent, company founder and CEO David MacNeil’s golden retriever, Scout.

A 30-second commercial from WeatherTech will feature the University of Wisconsin Madison’s School of Veterinary Medicine that will air Sunday during the game’s second quarter. WeatherTech, an automotive accessories, home and pet care products manufacturer, is paying for this $6 million spot along with supplying the talent, company founder and CEO David MacNeil’s dog, Scout.

MacNeil had lost three previous dogs to cancer and was devastated when an ultrasound identified an aggressive cancer on Scout’s heart that left him with no more than a month to live, according to the university. A recommendation from a local veterinarian led MacNeil last summer to UW Veterinary Care, the school’s teaching hospital. Oncologist David Vail and other hospital specialists stabilized Scout’s condition and came up with an aggressive treatment plan. Some of the faculty and staff will appear alongside the 7-year-old golden retriever in the commercial that follows Scout’s journey to recovery. My daughter, Alex, spent her last year of clinical studies at U W-M in their veterinary school and now works at the Golf-Rose Animal Hospital in Schaumburg, IL. We are also currently dog parents to Molly, our 4 1/2 year old golden retriever.

Many brands have all created some great ads and campaigns to help make their Super Bowl investment pay off. I’ll post once more next week to summarize how the actual game was as well as how the ads scored. We’ll also get to see how well the Pepsi Half Time show featuring Jennifer Lopez and Shakira was received. I’m sure these two ladies will definitely entertain us. And yes, it should also be a great game between two really good teams that I’m looking forward to.

The Road to Super Bowl LIV. Advertisers pay up to $5.6 million per 30-sec spot with political ads totaling about $20 million.

The Road to the Super Bowl has moved forward. Last weekend was the NFL divisional playoffs with four teams that got to clean out their lockers the next day for the season. The big surprise was the loss of the Baltimore Ravens who had been on a winning streak until they took a couple of weeks off. So this Sunday it will be the Tennessee Titans vs. the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC Championship and the Green Bay Packers vs. the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC Championship. The two teams that win each game will then move on to play in Super Bowl LIV in Miami at Hard Rock Stadium on February 3.

In last week’s post about the Super Bowl I wrote about who’s performing for the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show and Pepsi’s Super Bowl Halftime Sweepstakes. Fox Sports is broadcasting the game and back in November they stated that they had sold all its available commercial inventory, 77 slots in total. Normally the network broadcasting the game hasn’t sold out this early and they believe that advertisers are looking for more live telecasts. Fox has been selling 30-second ads to run during the game of over $5 million and as much as $5.6 million. Last year CBS sought between $5.1 – $5.3 million for a package of inventory in its 2019 game.

Two of the most expensive ads will be from the campaigns of Democratic presidential nominee contender Michael Bloomberg and President Donald Trump who will each spend approximately $10 million to buy 60 seconds worth of advertising during this year’s Super Bowl. Bloomberg’s goal is in “getting under Trump’s skin” with the ad buy, as expressed by a Bloomberg campaign spokesperson. Bloomberg is using his own money for the ad. While Trump’s campaign is drawing funds from the Republican National Committee. This year the Super Bowl, watched by nearly 100 million people last year, falls the day before the Democratic caucuses in Iowa.

Frito-Lay, an official Super Bowl sponsor, is bringing Cheetos and Doritos back with Super Bowl ads. Doritos has been in the game multiple times including a decade of “Crash the Super Bowl” contests in which they invited amateurs to submit commercials from which the winners spots aired during the game. More recently they have been including celebrities in their ads. This year they confirmed two 30-second spots. One will feature Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders, Terry Bradshaw and Tony Gonzalez that includes the Doritos, Lay’s and Tostitos brands along with Bradshaw wearing Tostitos boxer shorts. Other food brands that have confirmed Super Bowl ads are Avocados From Mexico, Heinz, Pop-Tarts, Pringles, Sabra and Snickers.

Hyundai is one of several automobile companies running Super Bowl Ads. They have already launched this teaser ad showcasing a funny Boston-accent lesson between Big Papi and Rachel Dratch. Great to see David Ortiz looking good and having fun after a horrible shooting almost cost him his life! Other auto brands running ads include Audi, Kia, Toyota and Porsche (first all-electric vehicle).

I said in my post last week that a 49ers vs. Ravens match up would be a great Super Bowl game. That’s definitely not happening now. So, Kansas City here they come!