Wings

EVs and crypto dominated this year’s Super Bowl commercials, but the real ad winners weren’t ads at all

Tuesday, February 15, 2022 by Snacks

"Lose Yourself"... still slaps. Millions tuned in Sunday to watch the LA Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals in a nail-biter. While the players battled it out on the field, some of the biggest brands fought for our attention during time-outs. This year’s commercial themes shifted from the pandemic and politics to the future:

  • Crypto’s debut: Coinbase's 60-second spot featured a bouncing QR code and $15 bitcoin sign-up bonus, which the company claimed drove 20M+ visitors to its site before it crashed (while the app jumped from #138 to #2 on the App Store overnight). Meanwhile, FTX and Crypto.com tapped Larry David and LeBron to star in their commercials.
  • EVs go mainstream: GM brought back Dr. Evil and Meadow Soprano to promo its new EV fleet, which includes models from its Hummer, Cadillac, BrightDrop, and Chevy brands (FYI: only two are actually available to buy.) Bowl stalwart Kia and Volvo-owned Polestar joined the electrified action too.

Free bitcoin during the bathroom break… the Super Bowl is one of the few places left to reach 100M+ consumers at once, and brands are paying more every year for that opportunity. The price tag for a 30-second commercial has jumped 3X since 2000, hitting a record $7M this year. Bowl spots are a chance for newer companies like Coinbase to introduce themselves to a wider demo, while legacy brands like Chevy can show they aren't just making your dad’s pickup truck.

THE TAKEAWAY

Commercials aren’t the only option... OG Bowl advertisers like Pepsi and Nike ditched commercials altogether and were still among the most-viewed brands thanks to sponsorship deals (think: Nike team jerseys and Pepsi’s halftime show). Similarly, in-game sponsored brands (think: Bose sponsoring coaches’ headsets) earned $170M worth of exposure this year and generated over one hour of screen time — more than all the ads combined.

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