Tide Ad LII (formally known as “Super Bowl LII”) Commercial Reviews: THE WINNERS

So, maybe you all heard about Tide having a few ads on during Super Bowl LII on Sunday? Truth is, all the commotion about the Tide’s four spots is well deserved, they’re already legendary, but there was also a very interesting group of (unintentional Tide) ads that filled up NBC’s broadcast as well. Largely gone were the political overtones of last year’s post-election hangover, and in their place were more attempts at light humor mixed with delicate sentimentality. As always, there were some great ones, as well as some colossal duds.

Here are my favorites from Super Bowl LII:

1. RAM Trucks (Just kidding. Duh of course it’s Tide: It’s A Tide Ad)

How do you make every Super Bowl ad one for your brand, while only paying for four 30-second blocks? It turns out, all you need to do is say it. “Look at those clean clothes. What else would this be an ad for… a razor??” says David Harbour in a matter-of-fact tone during the first spot, which aired in the 1st quarter. And with that, a worldwide audience suddenly crooked their heads to the side and quietly reflected on whether or not they’d ever thought about the outfits in commercials before. When the next ad came on, I’m sure some of them wondered “hm, is this an ad for Tide too? those are some clean clothes…”

Game. Set. Tide ad.

Tide came into the Super Bowl in rough shape. Two weeks earlier, it had been using Rob Gronkowski (of all people) to plead with teenagers to stop eating its soap for fun. The last thing the brand needed was a dud of an ad during the Super Bowl that somehow resulted in more Instagram pics showing Tide Pod containers next to the salsa.

Instead, the flawless execution of the four ads run during the game - courtesy of Saatchi & Saatchi New York - completely shifted the conversation away form the controversies. By the fourth quarter, every ad carried the question of whether or not Harbour would once again appear and smirk as he said “nope, Tide ad.” That’s some Inception-level mind-hacking, and why this campaign was the night’s big winner (except for maybe Nick Foles).

2. Amazon - Alexa Loses Her Voice

Amazon’s first foray into The Super Bowl would have stolen the show any other year. However, by releasing a teaser AND the full ad a few days before the game, the wind was a bit out of its sails by the time it actually hit the air.

The spot’s concept is simple, funny, and surprisingly subtle: Alexa loses her voice, Jeff Bezos doesn’t immediately fire an employee for a possible mistake (Call me crazy, but I bet it was a conscious decision to try and soften Bezos’ image up a little as Amazon is prepping to soon employ an entire city with “HQ2”) and celebrities step in to help. The celebrity cameos could not have been picked or utilized better, connecting with every demographic Amazon could possibly want. Alexa’s functionalities are shown very clearly, but without seeming forced. Ending the spot with “Nobody Does It Better” is also a nice little dig at Google’s home assistant.

Also, despite working with a worldwide brand that likely wants to attract as little controversy as possible, props to Lucky Generals and Amazon’s in-house D1 team for not only working in some of the night’s more “racy” humor, but sticking the landing each time. Anthony Hopkins slips right back into his ghoulish Hannibal Lector cadence as he details what sounds like an abduction (and somehow is even more delightfully creepy because he’s hand-feeding a peacock) while Rebel Wilson makes what I’m certain were the first, second, third, and fourth ever “bush” jokes in Super Bowl history. Many other brands clearly decided not to take ANY chances with their spots - Cindy Crawford’s pre-announced to Pepsi was there and gone in a blink, Groupon’s spot couldn’t even commit to a “football in the groin” joke and made sure to emphasize that “Mr. Anti-Small Business” got hit in the stomach instead - so props to Amazon for actually pushing the envelope a little.

3. NFL - Touchdown Celebration To Come

After focusing on “Super Bowl Babies” the last few years, the NFL decided to switch tactics this year… presumably to prevent public schools in southern Massachusetts from overflowing and collapsing into the earth by 2023. Instead, the focus was turned to a recent rules change the allows players to choreograph celebrations following a touchdown. In a year where few things went right for the NFL, this rules change was one of the few brighter spots, so shining a light on it made perfect sense.

But what makes this ad really stand out is who the league chose for the ad. Eli Manning is almost universally respected by fans throughout the league (even though that same area of southern Massachusetts may be a little salty towards him) and while Odell Beckham Jr. may rub some the wrong way, he’s a hit with the younger demographics. Add in that they’re on a the more successful team in the league’s biggest market, and it’s a no brainer why they were picked.

And then there’s the execution of the ad itself. Because Odell and Eli both seem to actually be pretty decent dancers, the lack of irony in the ad is refreshing. Years ago, this ad would have ended with an emasculating punchline or a “Terry Tate Office Linebacker”-like tackle from offscreen. But this ad demonstrates that the NFL is aware of the cultural climate in 2018 in a more subtle manner than I expected it would… or could. That’s a needle the league is going to have to thread with increased consistency over the next few years if it wants to continue thriving, and it gets off to a good start here.

4. Squarespace — Make It With Keanu Reeves

It’s a lot of fun getting to dissect what makes a great ad great. Getting lost in the fine details of a great concept and execution is simply the best. That said, sometimes that level of inspection just isn’t needed. Sometime a simple ad concept just works. Why? Because it’s simple. Stop overthinking it.

This is one of those ads. The vibe of it just instantly wins me over. It’s Keanu Reeves (who is cool) and he’s talk-singing to himself to “make it happen” while standing on a motorcycle - a stunt he actually performed for the ad. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the song he’s singing along to is way more catchy than it deserves to be and is still sticking with me three days later.

From a strategy point of view, my guess is it’s spot on. Those in the market to build a website are probably the entrepreneurial types, and exactly the ones who have probably had many moment-of-zen conversations with themselves like the one Keanu is having.

This ad’s simplicity is what makes it stand out, it has a great vibe, and it resonates with exactly who Squarespace wants it to. It’s great. Stop overthinking it.

5. Jeep - Anti-Manifesto

So, did Jeep get their hand on an early cut of RAM’s Built To Serve spot (more on that one the LOSERS post later this week), take a road trip out to a nearby stream with a red Jeep and a camera, then give NBC a call to see if they still had ad space open for a late submission?

Seriously though, aside from the fact that this ad could not be a more succinct takedown of the worst ad we saw on Super Bowl Sunday, it also can stand on its own as an impressive, simple concept that’s very well executed. It’s the strongest of this year’s Jeep Super Bowl ads because it does away with the special effects and doesn’t take any half-hearted attempts at getting “woke.” It’s well-written copy narrated on top of a striking image of a Jeep doing some cool stuff. “Enough said, buy a Jeep.” I like the simplicity in that.

The ad is also wise to not go over-the-top when playing up its contrarian angle. We’ve seen what happens when brands play this card too loudly (see: Budweiser ‘s “Macro Brew.” or better yet, don’t).

Lastly, a simple ad like this can be an effective change-up when every other Super Bowl ad is pulling out all the stops trying to be the best fastball. I think that’s why it’s stood out to me more and more in the days since it first aired.

Honorable Mention

It wasn’t an ad that played on NBC, so it can only qualify for a honorable mention in my book, but shout out to Duracell for the best post-game celebration brand interaction.

(If you haven’t heard about the colorful relationship Philadelphia fans have with batteries and the ways they’ve tried to introduce them to the heads of visiting teams’ players over the years, congratulations, there’s now a fun Google Search in your future!)