The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly: The Ads of Super Bowl LVIII
This year’s Super Bowl was as exciting as they come. Besides Taylor-spotting and the half-time show, there was the game itself. Tied going into overtime, San Francisco takes the lead and Kansas City somehow comes out on top? Who could ask for more? However, if you’re in advertising, chances are, the game itself wasn’t the most exciting thing about last Sunday’s Super Bowl, it was the ads!
Our team went through all the ads that aired during this year’s Super Bowl and curated our top 5. We also called out a few that we thought really missed the mark. Read on to see if you agree with our assessment!
Top Super Bowl Ads
Volkswagen
Volkswagen took emotion and nostalgia to the next level with their “American Love Story” ad. In this ad, Volkswagen goes through the eras of their cars, starting in New York in 1949 with a 1940s Volkswagen being lifted off of an old steamship. It then goes through the evolution of the VW lineup and the people who drive them. Initially, Americans didn’t quite know what to make of the Beatle. Today, Volkswagen is completely ingrained in American culture. Cameos included VW’s in popular media, including the movie Herbie: The Love Bug and an episode of The Simpsons.
This heartwarming ad closes out with the message “We shape the metal, You shape its soul”, right before they showcase Volkswagen’s new ID. Buzz electric microbus. This was a great move since the lead-in of a super-emotional ad helps consumers build an immediate emotional connection with the new vehicle. This one gets our vote for the number one ad of this year’s Super Bowl!
Watch the ad here.
Google showcased their Google Pixel camera, but in a heartwarming way with their “Javier in Frame” ad. The ad follows a man, Javier, with a visual impairment as he uses the technology to take photos of himself, his dog, and his partner. The technology assists Javier by telling him when his face (and others) are in frame. To give viewers the full effect, the ad is blurred until he takes a picture, which is clear.
The story continues as it goes through his adventures with his partner, closing off when the two have a baby together. During this time, the ad shows the line “Capture life, no matter how you experience it.” The ad closes with an image of the Google Pixel 8 referencing the guided frame technology. Similar to the Volkswagen ad, this ad is flooded with powerful emotion before showing the product.
Watch the ad here.
CeraVe
CeraVe did an excellent job of partnering with a celebrity. CeraVe took advantage of the fact that they have a similar name to actor Michael Cera. Michael doesn’t do a lot of ads, so fans loved seeing him in this one. The ad begins with Michael claiming he is the developer of CeraVe, even adding a subtle “Oh, you didn’t know?” It continues to be comical, yet effective as it reveals Michael Cera massaging another Michael Cera with CeraVe cream and smoothing the side of a rough mountain with the cream.
The ad closes off with Michael showing his ad to the dermatologists who made CeraVe. They look unimpressed since he’s claiming he’s the one who developed the cream. The ad closes off with the line “Developed with dermatologists. Not Michael Cera.” This ad leveraged humour, while also driving home the point that CeraVe is indeed developed with dermatologists. Another reason why this was such a great ad is because it really brought together the pre-ad hype that they had built around this campaign, during which the brand challenged people to consider whether or not they thought Michael Cera created CeraVe.
Watch the ad here.
Verizon
Verizon also partnered with a celebrity, perhaps one of the most famous celebrities of our time. For their ad, Verizon played off the popular term “break the internet”. Of course, this term doesn’t actually refer to the internet breaking, but rather that a large number of people are interested in something that happened and therefore a lot of people go online to learn more about it. In the case of this ad, Verizon shows off their 5G as “crazy powerful” and comedian Tom Hale bet Beyoncé that she can’t break it. Beyoncé is determined. She tries everything from running a lemonade stand, to making an AI version of herself, to even performing in outer space. They also nod to Vegas (the location of Super Bowl LVIII) with a scene on the Sphere.
This entertaining ad closes off with the Verizon logo and Beyoncé still not giving up as she hints at a new music drop. The ad was extremely captivating with Beyoncé’s stunts, while also driving home the key message that Verizon 5G is an extremely fast and reliable network. This ad did a good job of delivering on the hype built up beforehand.
Watch the ad here.
Reese’s
Although Reese’s Super Bowl ad was a little weird (in other opinions), it also totally worked. It features a voice-over by actor Will Arnett and follows an emotional ride as Will tells a group of TV watchers about some changes happening. The ad starts off with WIll announcing a “big change” to Reese’s peanut butter cups. All of the characters then scream “NO” as they bash their head through the wall, jump out the window, flip a table, and more. When it’s announced that the change is adding a layer of caramel, everyone starts cheering and cleaning up their messes. This pattern happens again with a final announcement that Reese’s will indeed still sell their original cups, but they will also sell these new cups with the caramel on top.
Some of the editors at Ad Age said that “the more you watch it, the better it gets.” It feels like it was made for the Super Bowl, as it’s a parody of the slapstick humour that you often see in Super Bowl ads. The Ad Age editors also commented on how great it was to see so many funny things going on at once, while also showing product in between each funny clip.
Watch the ad here.
The Worst Ads
Temu
Temu’s ad was an animated story that showed people purchasing low-priced items on the Chinese shopping app. They also used the slogan “Shop like a billionaire”. Not only is this slogan not super accurate, but it also came with a “catchy” tune “Ohh ooh Temu”, that many people felt was extremely annoying. This negative sentiment was compounded by the fact that the ad played over and over again. While there are some ads that viewers love to see repeated, this ad definitely wasn’t one of them.
Most viewers were not impressed by this ad, and it prompted the Washington Post to say that it’s “just the same lame ad, over and over.” This ad also received a D rating from the Kellogg panel.
Watch the ad here.
Squarespace
Although Squarespace built hype, the ad itself really fell flat. Part of the problem might have been that people had too high expectations. But, we don’t think that was the full problem. This ad depicts an alien invasion of Earth. People aren’t looking up in the sky at the flying saucers, and instead are looking down at their phones. The aliens decide to broadcast their announcement on the humans’ phones to get their attention.
Squarespace attempted to be flashy and featured celebrity Martin Scorsese, but failed to make a solid connection between the ad and the company’s services. A lot of people, even Ad Age ad editors, said they really didn’t get the ad. After watching the ad multiple times, we’re not sure we get it either.
Watch the ad here.
Budweiser
Despite the return of the iconic Clydesdales, we added it to this category because it was disappointing compared to Budweiser ads in the past. Due to the backlash of their Bud Light campaign last year, AB InBev played it really safe this year. The result was an ad that wasn’t necessarily bad, but also wasn't overly exciting.
The ad features a cozy bar in the middle of a winter storm waiting for their beer delivery. The truck driver doesn’t think there’s any way to get through, but then Clydesdales to the rescue. The delivery is made by horse and buggy, and the same puppy from the 2015 ad (who is now a grown dog) is there to greet them. Again, the ad isn’t bad, it’s fine, but wasn’t really memorable, and was overall disappointing for a Budweiser ad.
Some interesting trivia. The dog in the ad is Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell’s Labrador Retriever, Roy.
Watch the ad here.
And There Goes Another Super Bowl
Another Super Bowl has come and gone. We have to say, overall, we were pretty impressed! There were some great ones, players like Google and Volkswagen really tugged on our heartstrings, while others like CeraVe, Verzion, and Reese’s made us laugh while still telling a great story. We’re already looking forward to next year!
Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/best-worst-super-bowl-commercials-2024/
https://www.vox.com/money/2023/4/12/23680135/bud-light-boycott-dylan-mulvaney-travis-tritt-trans