The super-est of Super Bowl 50 ads

In classic post-Super Bowl fashion, I give you the best Super Bowl 50 ads and why I consider them successful.

Budweiser

While the rest of these ads aren’t in a particular order, Budweiser wins strongest spot of the Super Bowl, in my opinion. It goes with the tone of the game — intense and amped up and energized. It, very interestingly, contradicts its previous campaign, asserting “not ponies” even though people went gaga for its previous spots featuring ponies and puppies. It plays well into both the target demographic and the more general viewing audience, showcasing a boozy sports celebration, emphasizing its domestic roots and concluding with the reassurance that yes, this brand is for you. Budweiser tried something different and I think it really worked.

Mountain Dew

I hated this commercial initially, but the strategy makes sense. A puppymonkeybaby is weird and slightly creepy, but it’s also going to spur engagement. Even if some of that engagement is negative, the brand continues to gain exposure and additional impressions from people seeing others’ comments and saying, “WTF is a puppymonkeybaby?” Even if “WTF” is the general reaction, Mountain Dew created a lot of dialogue. Bonus: apparently Mountain Dew combined a puppy, monkey and baby because an abnormally-large ratio of Super Bowl ads resort to incorporating one of these three things to appeal to the general public. Mountain Dew poking fun at this advertising trend with their creepy puppymonkeybaby makes me respect the concept more.

Mini

There were actually multiple good car commercials this year. And car commercials tend to suck, so it’s always refreshing to see even one that miraculously doesn’t suck. I think Mini produced the strongest car spot, though. Instead of taking a more typical car-marketing approach and emphasizing specific features like Hyundai or aesthetics like Acura, Mini opts for a more simplistic, conceptual approach, reclaiming stereotypes that it’s a “chick car” or a “small-man’s car” in a similar way to how Volkswagen Beetle embraced and spun the fact that it was “too-small” in its think small campaign almost 60 years ago. It helps that Mini utilizes some bonafide badasses like Serena Williams, Tony Hawk and Abby Wambach to get the message across. Who wants to be a label? I don’t want to be a label, especially not if Serena Williams is telling me to defy labels. It’s hard not to have Mini’s message resonate with you to at least a small degree.

Colgate

“Do-good” ads are tricky, especially in the Super Bowl when many viewers are hyped up or partying and tend to engage much more positively with humor and Super Bowl regular, demographic-relevant brands, like Doritos or Budweiser. But Colgate makes this work. Colgate doesn’t try to play both sides, promoting a serious message but also trying to force in some humor like Budweiser’s Helen Mirren ad. Colgate’s spot is simple and effective. This year’s anti-domestic violence PSA is also strong, but the fact that the PSA is sponsored by the NFL makes me like it less. The PSA strikes me as a little too much of a PR move for a billion-dollar industry that’s trying to deal with a reoccurring issue of violence by saving face. Colgate’s ad translates as more genuine — it’s a brand recognizing an opportunity to promote a positive change that has nothing to do with covering ass. One element that could’ve made this spot more powerful — it alludes to the third world but hey, let’s not forget we have some pretty serious domestic water issues, too. Anyone heard of Flint?

Heinz

Obviously this is super cute and its hard not to enjoy a mob of Weiner dogs. Beyond that, Heinz was smart to release this ad before the Super Bowl. By the time the game actually kicked off, thousands of viewers were already positively engaged with this ad and actually looking forward to watching the commercials to see this specific spot, which is impressive and rare. Heinz was also smart to recognize what it has and what it doesn’t have — it dominates the ketchup market, but it doesn’t control the more niche condiment markets. So, Heinz doesn’t solely focus on it’s strength, ketchup. It finds a way to both incorporate its iconic ketchup while also extending into other submarkets by introducing a wider audience to Heinz organic ketchup, Heinz BBQ sauce, Heinz Sriracha, and other brand extensions.