This year, the Super Bowl had it all. The good, the um-what’s-going-on-here and the Aha-I-See-what-You-Did-There. For me, Mountain Dew definitely falls in the “What’s going on here” category. Perhaps, I just don’t understand it. That’s fine, I guess.
From Jason Momoa literally shedding skin for Rocket Mortgage to Chrissy & John’s Genesis Going Away Party, through Reese’s bar admitting we’ve never heard of them (quite true for me, they are not in my region) and of course, old time favourite, Old Spice, agreeing that the young boy is now his own man and needs to “Smell Like Your Own Man, Man”. I’ll start with the one I thought was expected until a very unexpected end – Porsche’s The Heist.
Porsche’s The Heist is a remake of Fast & Furious the movie. Expected of any car brand, in fact. I almost skipped it at a point but something told me to see it through to the end. The light came at the end of the over two-minute tunnel when I realized the car wasn’t stolen, the car stole the driver. Aha, see The Heist.
Remember Chrysler’s HalfTime America with Clint Eastwood? This Budweiser Super Bowl LIV ad is quick to remind you of just that. Aptly titled, Typical American embodies the American spirit – fearless, determined, loud, constantly interfering. This ad is a mash of what seems to be YouTube videos collected over time – all describing the Typical American spirit. A Bud. It even features the locker room celebration of the American female soccer team after winning the Female World Cup. Perhaps, the similarity between HalfTime America and this is the narrative style. One thing is sure though, both will leave you feeling like an American – full of hope. See for yourself, Typical American.
The PepsiCo commercial. This was the first of the ads that I saw from the Super Bowl LIV. Interestingly, the first 12 seconds of the ad is entirely free promotion for Coca Cola especially with all of that shiny latex and endless Red background. There is the usual diversity tone that we’ve come to characterize with Pepsi in the last few years. However, “No colours anymore, I want to paint it black” is cheesy at best. Product pack is black, the artists are black, so going black must be the real deal. Maybe, just maybe, this is Pepsi finally admitting to us that “we are Number 2” and that’s Okurrrrr too. Watch here and tell me if you agree. One of these days, I’m going to do a full-on analysis of the two Cola giants and their marketing (article for another day).
This is definitely my best commercial from the Super Bowl LIV. You may want to grab some popcorn for this! Remember when you had that conversation with your friend, trying to imagine what the world was before mobile phones and technology? Yup, Amazon attempts to answer that one with this ad. The hero? Lexy. Title: The World Before Alexa. It’s so good, so obvious, like something you and your friends could pull off yet it definitely took a lot to pull off.
Going with the camaraderie typical of friends, it even had variations to the name Alexa while spanning different historical times. Playful, cheeky, true to Alex. And who better to deliver this commercial than Ellen DeGeneres and her partner in their truest selves. A commercial so simple that it’s almost not an ad, it’s a televised everyday idea worth millions of dollars. The kind of everyday idea we toy around with in our heads, homes or when with friends. Watch it here
P&G’s When We All Come Together is a celebration of diversity. Not just the diversity of the models in the commercial but also a significant show of the diversity of the P&G product family. It’s a bold statement that everyone/every product is different yet unique. This is not all up in your face, you have to think about it more. In actual fact, you don’t even get it until you get it.
Finally, Audi. What’s the Super Bowl without more car commercials? I like this one because it holds us all accountable for being able to do some good in the world, even if that good is in driving a sustainable car. Audi asks us to Let Go of environmentally unfriendly cars and welcome the good in this sustainable driving advert. The song definitely raised my spirits too. So, here I am spreading good cheer in ugly times. Thanks Arya Stark, stay saving the world.
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