Super Bowl Commercials Worth Watching Again

One of my favorite parts of the Super Bowl, as I am sure is many people's, is the commercials. As a marketing student I am finally understanding the importance behind getting a commercial spot during this time, and how much thinking and research goes in behind the scenes. As an advertising student and American teenager here are my top 3 favorite commercials from this year.


Domestic Violence Awareness
A common theme among commercials this year was dark public service announcements. While some companies failed to catch the seriousness of the situation they were showcasing, the commercial sponsored by Nomore.org raised awareness about domestic violence quite successfully, it received over 7 million views on Youtube. What sets this ad apart from Nationwide or Nissan's nostalgic ads, is that this one didn't cross the line into morbid. They simply showed a very important issue in our society in a tasteful and realistic manner that still showcased how scary and important a moment like that is.

I first saw this ad on Facebook before the Super Bowl and at first didn't realize why a woman would be ordering pizza from 911, that's when it hit me. What I think made this ad so successful is that it wasn't blunt. It made me as well as other audiences think about what was going on; true art makes you think and reflect.

Snickers and The Brady Bunch
Snickers stuck with their most recent advertising slogan "eat a Snickers, you get ___ when you're hungry," but this commercial featured many appealing stars that made it stand out among all other Super Bowl commercials. Danny Trejo and Steve Buscemi played Marsha and Jan Brandy as a little throwback to the 1970s. This commercial got over 12 million views on Youtube, most of them probably from me.

Here's a teaser ad they released before the Super Bowl as well as the actual ad itself.

Even though I was born after the Brandy Bunch aired on TV, it was still recognizable to me and the older audiences of the Super Bowl. Since Snickers was able to appeal to the audience's nostalgia in a funny and positive way, they gained much publicity with this ad.

Budlight and Pac-man
This commercial starred a real person instead of an actor which is the first reason that sets this commercial apart from the rest. After selecting the random man who would star in their ad, the producers had one chance to shoot the commercial and hope he actually enjoyed the experience of being in a life-size Pac-man game.

When I watched this commercial with my friends, the overall feeling we had was amazement and jealousy. We wanted so badly to be able to play a life-size Pac-man game too! The marketing researchers behind this ad took a big risk with using a real person who was unaware of the situation but their marketing research proved that millennials value experience more than tangible goods. Their research was right, this commercial has over 17.5 million views!