By Mark Eting
Bullseye Strategy Special Correspondent
So…none of us were that surprised by the winner of the 2019 Super Bowl. (Though quite a few of us were thrilled, including our agency president, Maria Harrison, a Rhode Island native.) And as far as the Super Bowl ads, which is what most of us consider the real “big game,” we liked a lot of them, but didn’t note anything revolutionary, either. What got us grabbing for more nachos and queso was some of the social media moments of Sunday night. Here were three of our favorites.The Corn Syrup Wars
Bud Light’s 60-second commercial about the lack of corn syrup in its products threw some shade at Millers/Coors, following Super Bowl advertising’s longstanding tradition of rival brand smackdowns; remember “Where’s The Beef” in 1984? It wasn’t the Bud Light ad itself but the social media reaction to the TV ad that got us pumped. Not only was there the anticipated reaction from Millers/Coors, pointing out that their beverage actually has fewer calories than Bud Light’s corn-syrup-free beer, but Bacardi jumped in the and corn farmers tweeted up a storm of backflash. The moment was stolen by one Twitter user, who posted a video of herself pouring corn syrup into her Bud Light.
Planter’s For the #BrandBowl Win
Twitter named Planter’s Peanuts as the MVP of its annual #BrandBowl because it was the brand that earned the highest percentage of brand-related tweets during Sunday night’s game. In other words, it won the Internet. Those of us who were just tuned in to TVs might have smiled at the fun commercial starring A-Rod; those who were following the hashtag #CrunchTime on social were RTing away in the hopes of winning some pretty serious prizes.
Who Needs a TV Commercial, Anyway?
Meanwhile, Frank’s Red Hot Sauce earned Twitter’s #BrandBowl “Interception” award for being the most-tweeted-about brand that did not have a TV spot. Their social campaign included a giveaway; to enter, you simply had to tweet using a hot pepper emoji.
Will advertising on TV become obsolete during a Super Bowl in the future? Probably not…but next year, you can bet we’ll be even more tuned in to the social media sideshow.
“Mark Eting” is the pen name of the Bullseye Strategy team. Check back with us next week for more news on what’s buzzing in the digital marketing industry.
]]>
