Besides enjoying “the big game” with the dominating team obviously being the Patriots, we mean the Buccaneers (wink, wink to all you Tom Brady fans); the commercials were difficult to judge this year. Many previous big-time advertisers, such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Hyundai, opted not to spend the resources on a big game commercial amid the pandemic uncertainties. Budweiser, typically very present during the “big game,” reallocated what would have been invested in commercials to donate to COVID-19 relief. Well done, Budweiser.
While some big-hitting brands weren’t present, the ones that opted-in undoubtedly came to play. Here are our team’s favorite commercials from the big game on Sunday:
Alexandra: Cadillac – Edgar Scissorhands
In my opinion, the Cadillac commercial featuring Edward Scissorhands’ son, Edgar, was my favorite. I thought it was incredibly creative that the company chose to create a spin-off of the original movie and to include one of the leading actresses, Winona Rider. The story revealed that Edgar (Timothée Chalamet) is Kim Boggs’ and Edward’s child and deals with some of his father’s past hardships. Edgar is given a new self-driving car that would allow him to drive easily despite his scissor-hands, promoting the company’s new all-electric Cadillac LYRIQ model. I thought it was an extremely clever idea, and it was a perfect story to introduce the unique features of the car. It also brought some nostalgia to those who are a fan of the original movie.
Alex: Paramount+ – Sweet Victory
Besides having multiple Paramount+ commercials, almost as if they were trying to push Millennials to sign up for a new streaming service, the final one was my favorite of “the big game.” It featured a combination of so many of my favorite shows in a seamless display of a spectacular collaboration. Stephen Colbert pressed a button that brought up the SpongeBob half-time performance, amazing. Patrick Stewart enjoyed a martini on-top of the Paramount mountain, while James Corden, Trevor Noah, Dora, and many other actors and characters looking confused, beautiful. The conclusion to a long buildup from different commercial spots utilizing various familiar characters resulted in a genuinely successful final commercial. This commercial was specifically aimed at Millennials as they continue to unsubscribe from cable and register for various streaming platforms was successfully reached. I would personally say this one hit the mark for me.
Hannah: M&M – Dan Levy Come Together
My favorite commercial showed up early on in the game – the M&Ms commercial. Besides loving anything Dan Levy appears in, I thought it had a great humorous tone, cleverly inserted pop culture references (sorry, Karens), and it effectively reinforced its brand throughout. You were consistently shown the image of a bag of M&Ms, which meant you likely weren’t having the “that commercial was funny, but who was it supposed to be about” conversation the next day, as can be typical.
Patricia: Rocket Mortgage – “Certain is Better”
My favorite commercials were the Rocket Mortgage “Certain is better” series. One of my biggest pet peeves is not being able to identify the brand at the end of these elaborate and costly commercials (eh hem…that’s called a waste of money), and Rocket Mortgage did not break that cardinal rule. The commercials were clever and funny while clearly communicating their purpose and branding. While the spots featured Tracy Morgan and had cameos from Dave Bautista, Liza Koshy, and Joey Bosa, they didn’t rely on the stars to capture attention, and the messaging content was solid enough to stand on its own.
The PTE team can play judge to this content because content creation and storytelling is what we do… For more information on how PTE can help you come up with a campaign that everyone will be talking about the next day, contact us.