Feb 11, 2019
AdvertisinSuper Bowl LIII’s Winning Adverts
On Sunday 3rd February, at a ridiculous hour here in the UK, millions of people worldwide gathered to watch the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams in the lowest scoring Super Bowl of all time.
In a game that has been pegged as potentially the most boring Super Bowl game ever, it’s saving grace was of course the year-long awaited Super Bowl adverts. Although — it’s worth noting that the standard of ads this year wasn’t too dissimilar to the football itself, all somewhat underwhelming.
However, it is the global ad event of the year and whilst there have been better displays there were still some crackers. Here are our highlights of the Super Bowl 2019 adverts (in no particular order)…
Pepsi
Hitting it up in the home of their competitors Coca Cola, Pepsi arrived in Georgia, Atlanta to do business. Their ad took a comical and star studded approach to the long standing, crippling issue they face on a daily basis of “is Pepsi okay?” A phrase we’ve all heard in bars and restaurants when ordering a coke more times than Pepsi would care to admit. However, the brand bravely took on this stigma they are faced with in their 60 second spot. The ad begins with the usual “is Pepsi ok?” Encounter, before Steve Carrell pops out of the next booth to call out the waiter on his question, suggesting that Pepsi is superior and of course it is ‘ok’. He continues to list off a number of things that might also be ‘ok’, saying “are puppies ok? Is the laughter of a small child ok?”. The ad later cameos Lil Jon and Cardi B, running on the same thing of being ‘ok’. Ultimately the ad was success in that it managed to address a formerly taboo topic in an effectively comical way that is likely to stick. My only complaint however is that it was a little too star-studded, the ad runs on good concept so is there really a need for unnecessary celeb cameos? One is fine, maybe two, but they just got carried away. But hey — that’s the Super Bowl for you.
Pringles
Pringles did very well. Very well indeed. The main reason being that the ad was actually funny! The ad showed the main character creating a Pringles ‘stack’ with different combinations of flavours, when his friend asks him how many possible combinations there are. His unbranded voice assistant then chipped in with the answer, 318,000, before opening a self-pitying spiel on how she feels undervalued, to which the main character cuts her off by asking her to play a song. It was the right balance of being product based (I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now desperate to try a Pringle stack, a revolutionary idea) and also being relatable and humorous. Good acting, good concept, good product.
Coca-Cola
Not an overly exciting ad by coke, but effective. Running on the idea that ‘coke is for everyone’, the feature shows people (and animals?) from all around the globe drinking Coca-Cola in a likeable animation finishing with the word ‘together’. It is a very ‘wholesome’ ad if not a little try hard, but ultimately the animation is done well and the idea of togetherness in spite of differences will always go down well.
Devour
Ok this one is a little weird and a little cringe-worthy at times, BUT it is also very memorable and kind of funny. The new Kraft brand make ‘craveable’ frozen food, and have created their Super Bowl ad around the concept of food porn. The spot parallels the issue of porn in a relationship, but obviously, it’s ready meals instead. The wife constantly catches her husband sneaking off and.. enjoying… some frozen Mac n cheese. As I said, the innuendos occasionally crossed the line and were a little off putting which isn’t what you want when you are trying to sell food HOWEVER, it was certainly memorable and the food did look good. I can assume there would be mixed reviews on this ad, but there’s no doubt you’ll notice Devour products in the supermarket now.
If you agree (or disagree) with our verdict on this years Super Bowl ads or think we’ve left any out, then let us know on Twitter (@orchardtweets).
Like this post? You may also like Creative Crunch: Best of 2018 and Designs We Love: Bands FC.
