Imagine my surprise last week when I received an email invite to be on the Gannet/USA Today Super Bowl commercial judging panel.
My first thought was “why would they ask a media guy?” Truth is I’ve always had a viewer level fascination for ads and how campaigns evolve. The other truth is that as a media agency, we make sure that ads are seen in the right place by the right audience— so there’s always that curiosity about media investment options– and why the Super Bowl?
Then I thought- why wouldn’t they ask a media guy? We ultimately impact who views the content, and behind every spot in the game, there’s a media team that decided it was right for their brand and negotiated both price and placement with NBC.
But then there is the word “judge.” It’s a heavy word and implies a level of responsibility. You know, do the right thing. Or in my case, I think: “Ok Mayo, this is serious, other people are relying on you, so don’t screw it up.” So while acknowledging my self-imposed pressure- I clicked “yes” to accept the invite.
As I sat down to watch all 64 commercials my mind immediately flashed back to the many creative presentations I’ve seen over the years, and the respect I have for the talented creative teams that brought them to life. But then, my mind also wandered to all the times when I silently thought that I would have chosen a different campaign than the one that was ultimately selected and produced.
Admittedly, most of my previous judging was done in silence. I can recall a few times where the client “went around the room” asking for everyone’s opinion or vote on a campaign. In those instances, my approach was generally to say as little as possible- let the professionals make their choices, and hope they approved the media plan!
So I figured I like babies, pets and celebrities as much as the next person and I hit “play” on my computer. Early on, I have to admit, I was hoping for better. It seemed that every creative team was centered around big stories involving celebrity endorsers without much focus on the product. It’s never a great spot if you can remember who was in it- but can’t recall the brand. But wait, this is just one exposure, right? If I can engage the audience now and bring them into my brand story with message frequency- then I’m getting somewhere. This is why I watched many of the spots more than once. But hey, it’s the Super Bowl, and for $6-7mm a spot- I want it all.
Several other observations from my judging experience:
- The majority of the spots that I thought “worked” were :60 and succeeded in storytelling.
- All celebrity endorsements are not created equal.
- The “future” and hype around it was a consistent theme especially auto/EV, crypto and business products such as Salesforce.
- Post pandemic production budgets seem pretty “healthy”.
- It was a reminder that when the audience is big, so is the opportunity.
- The size of the screen matters. After viewing the impact of the spot on an 80” TV, I went back and increased the ratings for several spots.
In the end, there was some great work. There were 16 spots (25%) that I rated an 8 or a 9 on a scale of 1-10. I did not rate any spot at a 10. Here are my top 5 all of which I rated a 9.
• Amazon: “Mindreader”
• Disney +: “All the Goats”
• BMW: “Zeus & Hera”
• NFL: “Bring Down The House”
• GM: “Dr. Evil”
If I was forced to pick a winner I would go with BMW with Amazon a close second.
And also, here are my bottom 5:
• Uber Eats: “Don’t Eats”
• T Mobile: “Do it for the Phones”
• Weather Tech: “Fit Crew”
• Taco Bell: “The Grande Escape”
• E-Toro: “Flying Your Way”
Honorable mention goes to Hellman’s for casting NFL player Jerod Mayo, in a spot about Mayo. I thought they were trying extra hard to earn the vote of one judge in the Philadelphia area. It almost worked, I thought the spot was funny but gave it an 8. Judging is all about objectivity.
So there you have it, a career media person’s opinion about Super Bowl creative. If asked, I would do it again. I have no idea who the winning ads, or highest rated are, but here’s hoping you enjoyed some of mine.
