03/04
The 1st Annual Actionists Big Game Ad Review
There was nothing super about them.
In this month's newsletter we decided to give you both of our strategic and subjective points of view on some of the commercials that aired during the Big Game.
Like always, there are things we agreed upon, and a few we did not.
Fortunately for you, this newsletter won't only be about Pio's perspective on the game itself or this newsletter would already be over (we had to painstakingly and repeatedly explain the difference between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Giants to him!)
For a whopping $7 million/30-sec in airtime plus millions in production and celebrity costs, the pressure to make your Big Game bet pay off is immense. Sadly, we don't think most did.
Read on below to get our take.
Pio: So, Lee you’re the big football fan, what did you think of the Big Game ads this year?
I know you insisted on not seeing the ads beforehand and wanted to watch within the context of the game surrounded by all your friends and family for the maximum real-time effect.
Lee: For once, I think we’ll agree that most were disappointing. If you’re going to advertise in the Big Game, you better have something to say. But we didn’t see that, no big product announcements, few bigger cultural points of view and not a lot that would tangibly drive the business forward; so it felt like a waste of time and more importantly – a waste of money.
I think we’re seeing celebrity slapstick replacing strategy and creativity.
It was just a spectacle. What’d you think?
Pio: Totally agree. I avoided the game like the plague – not just because I don't understand it at all – but for the very real fear it was going to be about constant cutaways to the Taylor/Kelce show-mance! But I definitely thought it was filled with a lot of lazy, celebrity-stuffed work that someone misguidedly thought would make their brands famous. We’ll get to the rest of the issues but while we’re on the subject of spectacle, who did you think did best?
Lee: Dunkin’ Donuts for me (I know, not surprising). It was pure entertainment and it made me remember why we love Dunkin’ as America’s brand. They’ve made it cool to go to Dunkin’s for coffee – which considering the Starbucks juggernaut is quite the accomplishment. Love the Good Will Hunting throwbacks and how it authentically played off their personal relationships with inside jokes. Ben and Matt’s company have a big production deal with Dunkin’ and it seems to be working very well. It’s definitely an interesting marketing model to observe moving forward.
Pio: Other favs?
Lee: Loved the Dove work on self confidence for young girls.
Pio: Really? It kind of reminded me of the wonderful Thank You, Mom ad that Wieden did for the Winter Olympics a while back so this one felt a bit derivative and flat.
Lee: Yeah, I think you’re totally wrong. And you’re not a parent (thank God for that!) I watched it in a room full of moms, dads and their daughters and the spot really landed. I felt it was the best use of the Big Game platform to say something meaningful - I love how Dove has elevated their POV above just a beauty product to what beauty really means in society. Girls really have it tough and we have to do something about it. So that really worked for me as a marketer and as a dad.
Unlike say the Snapchat ad that criticized social media and then offered themselves as the answer to those ills without any meaningful, believable solution.
What about you? What didn't land for you?
Pio: Bud and Bud Light. God, what a miss. And I was really rooting for them. After the disastrous year they’ve had this was the moment to reclaim their brand narrative and business momentum. And I was very curious to see what they’d do. But they seemed to have lost their nerve.
Budweiser has always been about Americana, the Heartland and the American Spirit. At their best (9/11, Soldiers) they moved you to tears. This year they literally trotted out their beloved mascots to talk about what – old fashioned delivery? Nothing wrong with cute animals (as long as they’re not in my house) but God with the business tanking, I felt they needed to make a much bigger statement for a brand reset.
The Bud Light ad with Post Malone and Peyton Manning was a throw-the-kitchen-sink-at-you approach and just missed on all counts. I know they’ve wanted to get back to light hearted (and rightly so) but this was a mess.
Lee: Wow, I love how subtle you are! That said, it saddens me what has happened to those brands.
But since we’re on the topic of bad ads, how about that horrible Temu ad that literally felt like it had been created in China and exported to the US. Totally wrong on all fronts. The ad screamed we sell cheap sh*t from China.
Was there anything you liked?
Pio: Loved the Google Pixel ad. I think it showed how technology can serve true human needs. Apple seems to have completely forgotten that and become exactly the soul, slick-less company they mocked in their seminal 1984 commercial. Google every now and then will hit on this human element in a way that no one else in tech does – their classic 2010 Parisian Love Big Game ad is a masterclass of simplicity, emotional story-telling and how product-as-hero can be 10x more powerful than any big celebrity. It’s a wide open space that no one else occupies right now and I wish they’d seize this more consistently.
But to be honest, most of the work fell in the forgettable middle gray area for me: Uber Eats, Verizon, Oreo, T-Mobile. Celeb, more celebs, celeb cameos, gags, product. Some worked, some didn’t. It all felt very average.
But you know, I’ve been on the receiving end of this as a client where the dictate to “make it funny” and “win the USA Ad Meter” is the brief.
And it’s the worst possible brief you can get.
Big Game ads are hard work and I don’t envy anyone the task; but when you create that magic and the world responds to it there are few things in marketing that can beat that rush.
This year’s Big Game apparently is estimated to have had the biggest viewing audience since the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing (the Taylor/Kelce effect?).
Mind blowing. I just wish more of the work had been too.
