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Super Bowl LVII: Rating the ads, what worked and what did not
The Super Bowl meant star-studded commercials. FOX 26 Business Reporter Tom Zizka examined which ones worked and which ones fell flat.
HOUSTON - While the Kansas City Chiefs battled to victory in Super Bowl LVII, advertisers battled for attention with their commercials.
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With an audience of more than 100 million viewers, all of this year's ad space was sold-out for between $6 and $7 million for each 30-second spot.
For that kind of money and audience, the stakes are pretty high. Houston ad-executive Thomas Guerrero, of the Hierarchy Advertising firm, has been watching Super Bowl ads, for us, for years.
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His quick assessment: "I think it was pretty safe choices. It was a little bit underwhelming, but I thought there were a few, nice bright spots."
His favorite bright spot was Amazon's 'Saving Sawyer' spot. It featured a family dog left suddenly alone, after the COVID-19 lock down, to terrorize the home with a doggy temper tantrum. In the end, the frustrated family introduced another dog to provide some company.
"We were all at home, at one time," says Guerrero, "The story took you to a place, and there was a twist at the end, and I think those are always great."
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Staying with the plot twists, some viewers were confused by the beer battle between Coors Lite and Miller Lite, only to be upstaged, in the end, by another beer in the Molson-Coors family.
"It was amazing, because you think it's about this beer or that beer, and at the end: No, it's about Blue Moon," says Guerrero.
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There were the usual celebrity appearances that scored well, like the Breaking Bad characters pitching snack chips, actor Will Farrell shilling for Netflix and General Motors electric vehicles, and actor Ben Affleck manning a Dunkin takeout window to the surprise of customers, and irritation of his wife Jennifer Lopez.
"It was kind of refreshing," says Guerrero, "It wasn't overly produced, so that kinda' felt good to me."
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In the end, 'feel-good', 'funny', and 'nostalgic' moments carried the day. Business software company Workday turned to aging rock stars like Paul Stanley, Joan Jett, Billy Idol, Gary Clark Jr., and Ozzy Osbourne to school corporate America on the 'appropriate' use of the word "rockstar."
Guerrero says there's a tried and true formula that works.
"Keep it simple; have the right people in it; simple storytelling. It'll do the job," he explained.
His least-favorite ad was the M&M's candy campaign that replaced its spokes-candies with comedian Maya Rudolph. He just thought it was too complicated to follow.
He also gave an honorable mention to HEB's regional ad about its store-made tortillas, as something Texans can't do without.