Whether you are a sports fan or not, it is undeniable that the Super Bowl is a huge yearly event watched by many around the country. As marketers, story-tellers and advertisers, it’s all about the Super Bowl commercials for the Gavin team. With 30-seconds of air time costing upwards of 5 million dollars, these often over-the-top commercials get just as much love as the game itself.
This year’s advertisements kept it light, with many evoking a sense of empathy and community. Humor in advertisements has been common in Super Bowl ads, but this year brands were looking to persuade with deeper emotions. Advertisements featuring real life hardships were among our favorites, along with those that cleverly and effectively communicated a strong call to action. Check out some of the Gavin team’s favorite commercials from Super Bowl LIII.
Pringles – Sad Device
Gavin’s staff was impressed with Pringles ability to use humor in order to market a variety of their products. The advertisement encourages the audience to create their own flavor combination in a fun, creative way. The call to action is clear here: buy more flavors of Pringles so you can eat them together. Bonus points for the use of a robot/artificial intelligence, which seemed to be a popular convention this year.
Verizon – The Team that Wouldn’t be Here
Verizon prides themselves on being “America’s most reliable network”. The Super Bowl advertisement took an empathetic approach to highlight the importance of reliability. Anthony Lynn, head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, was reintroduced to the men and women who saved his life, drawing a parallel between the need for immediacy in emergency services and the immediacy provided by Verizon’s communication connectivity. Verizon became the hero in this narrative, which is why our team voted them into our top 4 favorites.
Microsoft – We all Win
America’s heartstrings were touched in this advertisement which highlighted efforts to improve the accessibility of technology to children with disabilities. Microsoft wanted the audience to connect with the children’s struggles. This allowed them to show viewers how Microsoft is innovating technology to accommodate this community. With a message everyone can get behind, the team agreed that this was a heart-warming video that stayed with them.
Kia – Give it Everything
Kia’s advertisement was smart to focus on the individuals and community behind the car, rather than just the car itself. The visual story connected viewers to the brand on an emotional level. Kia was also able to connect the location of the factory to the location of the Super Bowl, making it timely. The Kia brand was well exemplified through the story in the commercial, and for that we commend it.
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