Super Bowl 58 came and went almost two weeks ago and I’m still thinking about it! While I was tuned in to the main aspects of the Super Bowl as a sports fan and music fan (Usher’s performance was awesome) I was also paying extra attention to the ads in between all of the excitement on the field. As a marketing professional whose passion lies in creative strategy, I wanted to know which brands were pulling out all the stops (and all of the $$) for a chance to stand about amongst the rest of this year’s ads.
The newest crop of ads inspired me to round up my favorites from this year, look at them from a marketing perspective, and summarize it all here. Why were these ads successful? What was the strategy employed with each ad? Some of these I believe are the best ones that came out this year, and others are just personal favorites because they appealed to me in some way. Below is a deeper dive into my top favorites and why I think they work so well (click the title of each ad to watch it on YouTube):
This one made me tear up, I’ll be completely honest. This is in the same category as those Budweiser commercials where the horse and Labrador puppy become unlikely friends – cute and wholesome. But not so far removed from the product being marketed that it seems like a random association. As far as car commercials go, it’s stepping away from the commercials that show you the fancy gadgets inside the car or how fast it can weave through traffic, and instead showing you perhaps the most important thing a car can do: bring people together (yes, I know you probably groaned when you read that, but it’s true! Humanizing a brand that sells a consumer good is usually a winner.) What better way to advertise a new flagship SUV than to create compelling story illustrating its impact on people’s lives and ability to carry them from one special moment to the other. A+ for human connection!
Everybody knows that Christopher Walken’s voice is one of a kind (you’re probably reading this and imagining it right now.) BMW knows that “The Walken” is one of the most popular and longstanding celebrity impressions because of its distinctiveness, and they also know that their entire brand is marketing their cars as “Ultimate Driving Machines” – in a league of their own, unlike any other, well known and admired. As Christopher Walken goes through his day, every person he encounters tries to do “The Walken” impression for him. As he drives away in his BMW, the voiceover says, “there’s only one Christopher Walken, and only one Ultimate Driving Machine. The rest are just imitations.” It’s a match made in heaven between this concept and their brand message. Car commercials are usually on the serious side, so I appreciate when they’re not afraid to release a goofy one every once in a while. Plus, there’s just something special to me about a celebrity who can join in on the joke about themselves. Ads don’t necessarily need to be complicated or intricate to be successful – they just need a creative concept and clever execution! Even if it didn’t make you grab your wallet to purchase the newest BMW, it probably made you smile, and positive brand perception alone is worth its weight in gold.
This is a classic example of a brand seeing an opportunity and taking full advantage of it. Was CeraVe created by actor Michael Cera? No, but it’s easy and fun to make that silly connection and run with it. The internet has been making this joke for a long time, but CeraVe finally decided to capitalize on it. The concept is that the brand was actually developed by Cera, who has a “passion for human skin.” In reality, it was developed by dermatologists, but that’s not a fun ad concept, and it’s just silly enough that it makes sense to have fun with it but not too misleading that it hurts the brand’s reputation. The Super Bowl spot was actually the culmination of the Cera campaign after several breadcrumbs set up on social media along the way to tease the full launch. To me, this is one of the most successful strategies for creating a memorable campaign, especially on the biggest scale there is. Teeing up the main event by getting the conversation going ahead of time creates buzz and anticipation. That coupled with various brand activations such as content creators engaging with Cera ahead of the release, spotting him in the drug store autographing the product, and creating a hilarious campaign website makes it a multi-pronged approach that is wide-reaching and appealing. If you’re going to get in on a joke that the Internet started, there isn’t much room for missteps before you’re labeled as “cringe.” Luckily, in this case, it’s just quirky enough that it’ll get people talking and chuckling when they make the connection between the two. Brand conversation = initiated.
Etsy has long served as a popular destination for gifts, especially unique gifts that are often handmade and/or personalized. With the release of its new “Gift Mode” AI gift recommendation feature, Etsy had to communicate that they are not only THE destination for creative and one-of-a-kind gifts, but also the destination for when you need a little help with gift suggestions when you’re not sure what to buy. So, they chose one of the most historically significant gifts of all time – the Statue of Liberty, gifted to the U.S. by France in 1884. What do you give someone (France) who just gave you an incredibly thoughtful gift (Lady Liberty herself)? Enter Etsy’s Gift Mode, and in no time, the French have a personalized cheese board that they’re obsessed with. The ad is simple and straightforward yet clever and creative. The point gets across faster than the French received their personalized gift!
Using pop culture and brand relevancy and using them creatively is a great formula for a successful campaign, and that’s exactly what e.l.f. Cosmetics did. The appearances from beloved TV stars such as Judge Judy, Ronald Gladden from Jury Duty, and a few Suits cast members were all relevant to their courtroom theme. e.l.f. knows that its value proposition is affordable yet high-quality cosmetics, so that’s exactly the message they conveyed by putting the defendant on trial for spending too much money on other makeup brands and sentencing her to use e.l.f.’s comparable products for a much lower price. The conversation surrounding e.l.f. products has blown up on social media in the last year specifically for the brand’s impressive and cost-effective offerings. In response to this, they used an ideal combination of their own relevancy in the market and a creative hook to create one of the most memorable cosmetics ads I’ve seen in a long time.
DoorDash All the Ads | DoorDash
DoorDash is wildly popular already, but if UberEats is also going to release a Super Bowl ad, it only makes sense to try and outdo their biggest competitor. With their promo code longer than a CVS receipt (if you know you know), they created something so outlandish that only people who were patient enough (or maybe crazy) and willing to pause the commercial, go to the website, and type in the promo code word-by-word could have a chance to win their mega prize offering. Did you know that someone actually won the prize? When I first saw the ad, I wasn’t sure if it was a real contest, but after some further digging I found out that not only is it a real prize, but it’s estimated to be worth between $340,000 and $480,000! It includes items and promotions from DoorDash’s fellow Super Bowl advertisers, including a Booking.com $20,000 vacation, a BMW i5 M60 electric vehicle, $50,000 towards a home down payment, and a Bass Pro Shops boat (!!??!!). Check out the full list here. Apparently, someone named Jonathan H. from San Antonio is the big winner and is in the process of receiving the long list of prizes. This is not your average sweepstakes – it’s bigger and better than that, and it’s a win because not only does it have the element of surprise and entertainment, it also illustrates that DoorDash is at its core connected with a bunch of other brands because it delivers everything! I know Jonathan H. from San Antonio will surely never forget this ad, but I think the rest of us will also remember it for being one of the gutsiest things a brand has spent money on for a Super Bowl commercial.
In addition to the above ads, there were several others from Super Bowl 58 that I enjoyed! Check them out here:
Like a Good Neighbaaa | State Farm
Old School Delivery | Budweiser
Tina Fey books whoever she wants to be | Booking.com
BetMGM is for Everyone | BetMGM
Javier in Frame | Google Pixel
Getting excited about this kind of thing is the norm for me – I love encountering marketing campaigns in my normal day-to-day life and unpacking the strategy behind them. Thanks for reading!
Cara Siliakus 
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