Super Bowl ads: what advertising lessons did we get from blockbuster players?

Bouncing QR codes that crashed internet websites. Emotionally devastating storylines with no featured products. Crazy cable guys and mind-reading devices... If you thought this year's Super Bowl ads couldn't spawn innovative television advertising trends, well, think again.

They say that linear television is dead. And there's no business sense in investing 10 million dollars in a single television advertising ad that will air during a Big Game event like Super Bowl break.

Well, not precisely true because many successful global brands did exactly that!

Big brands still spend millions on Super Bowl ads because it's still a matter of prestige and display of their branding power.

But, why did they do that in a situation when people are hooked on their „second screens“ like smartphones on which they preferably consume fragmented content on social media platforms while skipping ads?

There's no single answer, we will see how each brand had its own reasons.

Cryptocurrency case: Super Bowl ads are good for building the trust

The craziest ad of Super Bowl 2022 was that „crazy“ 30-second television commercial for cryptocurrency exchange company Coinbase. It featured a bouncing QR code displayed in a cheap graphic style of the old video game Pong.

Even though it looked like a geeky joke, some 20 million people instantly scanned the QR code, thus visiting the Coinbase's website that fatally crashed under the enormous traffic.

Paul Hiebert of Adweek magazine clarifies why cryptocurrency companies jumped the Super Bowl wagon: „Much like dot-coms in 2000, crypto companies are using big-budget marketing to build credibility and legitimacy, and reduce fear and anxiety“. He adds that even though 86% of U.S. adults have heard of cryptocurrencies, only 16% have ever bought or used them. The reason is lack of trust.

So, the marketers thought that a single Super Bowl ad and the help of big-budget marketing could change that and make people more comfortable with cryptocurrency investing.

That's why another cryptocurrency Super Bowl ad became a huge talking point as well. It's a funny television ad for FTX company which featured famous comedian Larry David from the TV series „Curb Your Enthusiasm“.

Larry plays a stubborn naysayer transported through centuries while criticizing and missing out on all the inventions that changed the world – from the wheel to WC toilet and Walkman. In the final scene, he is confronted with the message: „Don't be like Larry. Don't miss out on crypto / NFTs / on the next big thing.“ Point well taken.

Don't sell products, create emotional solid bonds like Budweiser

Another marketing lesson that can be taken from one of the most talked-about Super Bowl video ads is the importance of emotions as true connectors of consumers and a brand.

Look no further than Budweiser's tear-jerkingly emotional „Clydesdale's journey“ television ad in which Budweiser's Clydesdale horse mascot hurts its leg in a jumping accident. The horse is badly injured while sadly moans in a barn for days as farmers and a concerned dog look on.

The horse almost dies, farmers lose hope, and everything looks grim and hopeless. But the horse finally finds the strength to get up and run full speed through nature again. Tens of thousands of people posted their emotional reactions about how this video emotionally shattered them. It was so powerful.

As Pamela Bump from HubSpot clarifies: „Although Budweiser's ad doesn't highlight a product, it tells a memorable, relatable, and empowering story about the brand's well-recognized mascot and enables the brand to flash its logo with viewers feeling entertained and hopeful.“

And as a bonus - it offers a welcome dose of optimism to all Americans because of troubled pandemic times. The marketing lesson of the ad is clear: put the emotional bond with the consumer before conspicuous selling of your product.

Don't be afraid to make a little fun of your brand

The biggest surprise hit among all Super Bowl ads was the video for Amazon's voice assistant Alexa that featured celebrity couple Scarlet Johannson and her SNL star husband Colin Jost. It showed that brands should not take themselves too seriously but with a healthy dose of humor.

In it, the power couple Scarlet and Jost spend a day together in their New York apartment chilling out while Alexa assists them in their everyday activities. And there's a humorous twist – Alexa is too good in what it's doing; it practically reads couple's minds.

So, for example, when Scarlet is occupied with something on her laptop and is distracted by her husband's babbling, Alexa reads her mind and activates a blender that silences Colin with the bolt of noise.

In another scene, Alexa puts a song, „Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies, “ through home listening speakers when Colin asks Scarlett how she feels when she has to make love scenes in her movies. Scarlet says it's the worst thing she has to do, but Alexa's song reveals otherwise.

Amazon's commercial not only laughs with the supposed everyday life of a famous couple but also laughs with its product. At the end of the video, the voiceover says: „It's probably better Alexa can't read your mind“. The video spectator feels „relieved“ that Alexa is luckily just a voice assistant and not a psychic one.

Using pop references adds a dose of coolness and nostalgia

Another lesson learned from this year's most successful Super Bowl commercials is that using pop references to famous movies, characters, or pop performers could produce a sense of heart-warming nostalgia and a feeling of connectedness of consumers with a brand.

That's why Verizon's „Goodbye Cable“ ad was so popular. It featured famous actor Jim Carrey replicating his role from Cable Guy's movie from 1996.

„Verizon creatively plays up the film's nostalgia by bringing back the somewhat-elusive Carrey for a mini-reboot where he comes to an apartment to set up a prospect's cable and finds that she's using Verizon 5G instead,“ as Pamela Bump notes on HubSpot blog.

When Jim Carrey's character realizes his cable services are not needed at all, he humorously runs out of the apartment searching for another client. At the same time, the audience empathically understands the ordeal customers face when trying to cut chords.

Some viewers thought that using an old movie reference was a great touch of nostalgia, while others commended its brilliant understanding of new consumers' habits. And while we are mentioning pop references here's another example.

One of the most talked-about car commercials of this year's Super Bowl was Toyota's „Keeping up with the Joneses“. The ad is a literal spin on the famous phrase “keeping up with the Joneses” which often refers to the need “to compete with one's neighbors in material possessions.”

For that purpose, Toyota gathered three celebrities with the same surname Jones who race in their Toyota Tundra pick-up models against each other. Actor Tomy Lee Jones battles out with the comedian Leslie Jones and the actress Rashida Jones.

The commercial concludes with the arrival of Nick Jonas (notice the slight difference of his surname), who wins the reluctant approval of his near namesakes (one of them even addresses him with a surprised grimace: Jonas?).

Singer Jonas humorously replies: „Yes, keeping up with the Joneses now.“

This brilliant Super Bowl commercial uses the powerful appearance of celebrities, confirming that good pop references add a great dose of brand coolness.

Conclusion

So, whatever critics say about Super Bowl ads (e.g., senseless waste of millions for one-time showing), they can still create popular talking points on social media sites and the internet. And they also teach us a few marketing lessons.

You don't need to have million-dollar budgets to realize that the best television commercials are those which: