Did you watch the Super Bowl on Sunday? Yeah, we did too. While most people who watched will just be remembering the power outage and maybe Beyonce, those in advertising will be debating about the Brand Bowl and which ad was the most memorable* (Taco Bell’s Viva Young), funniest* (Kia’s Baby Planet), heartwarming* (Budweiser’s Clydesdales & Coca-Cola’s Security Cameras), and interactive* (Coca-Cola’s Mirage – Go Showgirls!). Each person has their own favorites and won’t listen to reasoning, or at least your reasoning, unless you agree with them.
But wait, why does our list include interactive? Well, Coca-Cola set up a scenario in which three groups were racing to get a refreshing soda and then asked the audience to vote. When I went to vote, the site was so slammed it didn’t load, but one commercial break later it was loading and I voted for those Showgirls and sabotaged those Badlanders and Cowboys with random animal crossings, TSA screenings and more.
- Oreo Cookie versus Cream Instagram Page
Sure it was silly, but it was fun and the party I was at applauded the ad when those girls grabbed their sodas.
Then there was the use of hashtags:
Hyundai had #EpicPlayDate and #PickYourTeam.
HEB, our local grocery store of choice, used #TrueTexan and featured our favorite Rodeo Clown – Leon Coffee.
Oreo went one step further with their Cookie versus Cream whisper fight and asked people to vote for their favorite on Instagram by uploading photos and tagging them #cookiethis or #creamthis. You could Instagram your photo with your vote and the Oreo team might recreate your picture using your favorite part of the cookie.
Social Media wasn’t what the Brand Bowl was all about, but if an ad used it, they gave themselves another way to make a connection and get an opportunity for some immediate ROI at the same time.
Did you use social media during the big game? What was your favorite ad? Share your comments with us!
*Ads chosen were by the writer and do not reflect an agency-wide poll by AMG, because no such poll was taken.