Super Bowl LIV: Advertising Winners and Losers

The big game has come and gone, and the evening had some definite winners and losers. Clearly, the Kansas City Chiefs were the night’s big winners, winning Super Bowl LIV 31-20, with quarterback Patrick Mahomes being named as the MVP.

Another winner was FOX, which should pocket more than $280 million in ad revenue for the evening (based on $5.6 million per 30-second spot). That doesn’t include the pre- and post-game ad revenue.

As for the big game ads, there was the good, the bad and the ugly. Here are my top 10 and bottom 8:

  1. Jeep – “Groundhog Day.” Bill Murray’s recreation of the classic film was perfectly timed and executed.
  2. Amazon – “Before Alexa.” Ellen is one of the best spokespeople around.
  3. Hyundai – “Smaht Pahk.” Perfect blend of product in action, comic pathos and celebrity endorsements.
  4. Procter & Gamble – “When We Work Together.” The audience votes, but the company shows off more than a half-dozen products.
  5. Tide – “Super Bowl Now, #LaundryLater.” Tide may not win the crown, but it might be the most memorable product of the evening.
  6. New York Life – “Love Takes Action.” It turns out that love meaning buying insurance.
  7. T-Mobile – “Mama Tests 5G.” Anthony Anderson’s Mama is the surprise celebrity of the evening.
  8. Google – “Loretta.” This is the ad I’ll remember years from now. I’m already using the service to remind me of things I love about my wife.
  9. Walmart – “Famous Visitors.” The company will probably need to find a new schtick next year, but using famous movies to market grocery pickup worked one more time.
  10. Doritos – “The Cool Ranch.” Old meets new with Nas and Sam Elliott.

Honorable mention: Cheetos, “Can’t Touch This.” Pringles, “Rick and Morty.” Bud Light, “Inside Post’s Brain.” Mountain Dew, “As Good as the Original.” Sabra, “How We ‘Muss.” Sodastream, “Water on Mars.”

Now for the bottom eight:

8. Quibi, “Bank Heist.” The new entertainment platform makes a fairly flat debut.
7. Audi, “Let It Go.” To Audi, I’d say, let that song go. We’re all pretty worn out on it.
6. Universal, “F9: The Fast Saga.” Do we really need nine of these movies. They all look the same.
5. Olay, “Make Space for Women.” Female empowerment is a great idea. But can we make that idea entertaining, too?
4. State Farm, “Back in the Office.” The night’s first ad was also virtually disposable, a complete retread of the original.
3. Donald Trump, “Criminal Justice Reform.” Let’s keep our sports and politics separate.
2. Michael Bloomberg, “George.” Ditto.
1. Pop-Tarts, “Fixed the Pretzel.” Before you fix the pretzel, fix this ad. It was a mess.

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About Douglas Blaine

Capnpen is a writer who was a newspaper and magazine journalist in a previous life. A college journalism major, he now works as an English teacher, but gets his writing fix by blogging about a variety of topics, including politics, religion, movies and television. When he's not working or blogging, Capnpen spends time with his family, plays a little golf (badly) and loves to learn about virtually anything.
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