Building Brands with the 2018 Super Bowl Ads
A branding review of the best and worst 2018 Super Bowl Ads
The 2018 Superbowl featured a great game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots. The game had all of the makings of an instant classic. Tom Brady, considered to be the GOAT by many, going for a 6th Superbowl ring while back-up QB Nick Foles playing in the biggest game of his career after considering quitting just last year because he felt he wouldn’t get a chance to become a starter. All of this football happened in between some pretty great commercials and bookended a performance by Justin Timberlake, and Prince, sort of. What does all of this mean to us at home – no time for bathroom breaks. Viewers didn’t want to miss a moment of great football, great ads, and a great halftime show (not counting that really unattractive shirt that JT wore).
Here’s a look at the best, and worst, of the Superbowl ads:
“It’s a Tide Ad” It’s almost a tie between Tide and Alexa for best ad but Tide edges out for the win. They set it up in the first quarter with follow up ads in each quarter. Great concept, well executed, funny, and made us forget for a minute about the whole tide pod challenge. The greatest thing about it is the way it mocked all other Superbowl ads – cars, movies, big pharma – while letting us in on the joke. It really struck just the right chord.
“Alexa Loses Her Voice” So funny and it makes us think that maybe we do want a voice selection option. I’d be hard pressed to choose between Rebel Wilson and Sir Anthony Hopkins. I can only imagine how Cajun Alexa would sound.
“Answering the Call” I gravitate towards the ads that are heartfelt and well written so this one hits on all cylinders. Beautiful tribute to first responders with phone calls from the people they’ve saved. Verizon nailed it with this one.
“I’ve Had the Time of My Life” Watching Eli Manning develop a new touchdown dance celebration as it turns into a recreation of the iconic climax of “Dirty Dancing” with Odell Beckham Jr. was fantastic. Nice job by the NFL to use two Louisiana guys to bring the fun back to the “No Fun League”.
“Good odds” Toyota highlights Lauren Woolstencroft’s journey against the odds as a Paralympic gold medalist. Uplifting story that was beautifully told – and made me feel like a I can’t ever complain again about working out.
There were a couple of ads that really missed the mark and completely wasted their time on the global stage.
“Build to Serve” I never met Martin Luther King Jr. but I am certain that he did not make beautiful moving speeches to sell trucks. I’m all for a great voiceover but this wasn’t it.
“Taps” I’m glad that Stella Artois has teamed up with water.org to address a global crisis. But the message is that if 1% of us watching buy the chalice they can bring clean water to 1 million people. And if they took the money from producing and airing the ad how many people could receive clean water?
All in all there were far more great ads than not this year. I am not in favor of watching the ads in advance, preferring to see them as the game unfolds. I think it was one of the better year for the ads and it was nice to see so many ads that were so well done.
You can hear our own CEO Jaci Russo talk more about these commercials on the KPEL Podcast.
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