My Top 5 Ads of Super Bowl LV

Super Bowl LV wasn’t your ordinary Super Bowl. COVID-19 played an enormous role not just the NFL, but the entire sports industry, and that definitely reflected in the ad world. To me, what makes great advertising isn’t just determined by internal metrics, or even ROI, but the ability to quickly grab the audience’s attention, properly integrate their brand, while giving a meaningful message to the consumer they won’t forget. In this article, I’ll be giving my Hot Take on what I thought were the Top 5 Super Bowl commercials, and why they were the best. Agencies included :)

5.) Doritos: #FlatMatthew

Doritos are known for their crazy commercials, especially Super Bowl Sunday as their NFL’s most senior sponsors. Executed by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (FritoLay’s creative agencies) I chose this to be #5 of it’s humorous nature, creativity & relevant cameo, but honestly, it didn’t really have anything to do with Doritos. McCanaughey & Doritos teased their concept before hand, to build some extra anticipation from their consumers and Matthew’s large fanbase. Cameo’s are an essential element to good Super Bowl ads in my opinion, and selecting an actor like Matthew let Doritos’ consumers know that they aren’t completely out of touch.

The hashtag #FlatMatthew trended on Twitter, and users absolutely loved it. Live Social media engagement & community management are crucial during live events, honestly, Doritos couldn’t of did a better job interacting with Tweets being shared, all that matters in a complete digital 2021 world.

4.) OIKOS: “UGLY FACE”

Barney R. & Lightning Orchard did a phenomenal job with this short & cost effective ad. My take with all FMCG brands, whether it be Doritos or yogurt, we need to see someone actually EATING the product! For instance, when you watch a Gatorade commercial, if you’re not quenching for an ice-cold sip after watching that shit, you better seek medical attention immediately. So for that reason, “Ugly Face” is placed at #4 for it’s catchiness & simplicity.

However, I did really like the song, it really captured today’s music, and not any corny replication of it either. OIKOS also plans to donate $100,000 in grants to 100 fitness professionals furloughed of their jobs by COVID, oh, and shout to @MitzaCEO for creating that song, you can purchase it here.

3.) Scotts Miracle-Gro: “Keep Growing”

Now this one stuck stuck out to me for a number of reasons. “Keep Growing” was Scotts’ first Super Bowl debut commercial ever, a risky financial move considering it being their first high-ticketed ad spot amidst a pandemic, kudos to Jim Hagedorn (CEO) for making that decision. VaynerMedia, an agency notoriously known for their recent “Baby Nut” Super Bowl ad for Planters last year during Super Bowl LIV, did a remarkable job not only implementing great actors like John Travolta, and TikTok nuances , but there was an actual Call-to-Action for this spot! So Scotts definitely used there big budgets wisely.

The Dream Lawn & Garden Giveaway hashtag trended on Twitter, receiving thousands of retweets and engagement. CEO of VaynerMedia Gary Vaynerchuk (aka Garyvee) aslo used his large Twitter fanbase of over 2M followers to help push the contest as well. Great ads are one thing, but it’s about the dirty work behind the scenes that gives it that extra push, and for that effort Scotts Miracle-Gro comes in at #3.

2.) Bud Light: “ Last Year’s Lemons”

If we all can agree on one thing about 2020, is that it wasn’t the best year we’ve had in a while. Creative agency WONGDOODY & Bud Light did what any good comedian does, they turned tragedy into humor. The raining lemons concept was remarkably done, had astounding cinematography, and like Scotts, this 60 second spot actually promoted a product! A new product! If you’re going to spend hundreds of thousands on creating an ad, plus another million and some change for a 60 sec spot for America’s most watched televised event of the year, you better be selling something !!

This commercial had a message, it was quirky, funny, not too corny, but most importantly it effectively advertised a specific product, when reports come out in a few weeks, don’t be surprised to see Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade sold out in all their retail locations. That’s how you advertise during the biggest sports event in the country. A well earned #2 from me.

1.) Toyota: “Jessica Long”

I’m not going to lie, I actually didn’t know who Jessica Long was, or any Paralympians, but this ad was hands down one of the best ads I’ve ever seen in my life. If this didn’t get you sentimental, your heart is made of coal. Toyota and global creative agency Saatchi & Saatchi (who’re known for their breathtaking advertisements) used every last second of this 60 second spot for sure. Now contrary to my recent critiques of Super Bowl ads, I do believe they should be centered around a product as much as it is entertaining, I’m not a huge fan of ads I can’t clearly tell what they’re intentions are or what brand is behind the scenes. However, I do believe advertising is about story-telling, grabbing the consumer’s attention and delivering a message that will change you, and Toyota did just that, and was undoubtedly the best ad of Super Bowl LV.

Jessica Long, a Russian paralympian, turns out had no easy childhood or upbringing. The old nostalgia, the touching cinematics, bold imagery, symbolism & brilliant narration created what felt like an hour long documentary, into a 60 second commercial packed with emotion & hope. Toyota pledged to acknowledge more Paralympians like Jessica Long, to help bring more awareness to disabled athletes, and give them hope. If there’s one thing true about life, often we make think we need a lot of money, accolades & material things just to get through life, but in reality, sometimes all we really need is just a little bit of hope.

Thank you so much for reading, let me know what you thought about my Hot take on Twitter.