Touchdown or interception?

With mandatory mask-wearing and a restricted number of in-person spectators, the 2021 Super Bowl looked a little different from previous years. But at least the ads kept rolling.

A few of our team share their thoughts on some of the ads from the night along with a review of a Universities quick response to one of the spots.

T-Mobile

This ad didn’t sit quite right. I get it, the miscommunication between Stefani and Levine creates a difficult spot where she’s on a date with the exact opposite person she described. If you’re not familiar with Shelton and Stefani’s real-life relationship, it feels as though the ad is making fun at Shelton’s expense.

All comedy aside, didn’t dating apps such as Tinder, solve the problem of bad blind dates before 5G? – Laura, Digital Project Manager.

Toyota

For me, this is why we get into advertising. A beautifully crafted ad, with so much emotion and inspiration behind it. Tapping into the passion that drives athletes through their challenges to succeed, Toyota definitely won the award for best Super Bowl Ad for me. – Billie, Production Manager.

Huggies

I love the Huggies stuff. Manages to be cute, funny, totally relatable and 100% real all at the same time. Almost made me want another (well, maybe not!!)

And great PR story in featuring babies that were born that day. Simple idea. Brilliantly done. – Paul, Creative Director.

Reddit

Super Bowl is known for big-budget ads and companies who splash millions on the longest spot. But this year, Reddit cut through the noise. Created by R/GA, the ad was made in a few days and only lasted 5 seconds, yet it became one of the most searched ads that night.

An entire screen of text on one of the shortest ads shouldn’t work, but it does for that exact reason. Ambitious, attention-grabbing, and rebellious, it cleverly nods to their users who recently spearheaded the stock market trading frenzy, sending a message to Wall Street. Proving for a good idea to make an impact, you don’t need time or an extravagant budget, sometimes 5 seconds is enough. – Sophie, Content Creative.

GM ft Will Ferrell

Not all ads that try to be funny using big celebrities hit the mark, but this one does.

The script sits well with Ferell who is brilliantly cast, as he is actually known in the US for being an electric vehicle fan.

A well-dramatized point with a memorable line:

No Way Norway!

– Dylan, CCO.

Norway Uni response to GM

Love the fact that this Uni has reacted so quickly to the GM No Way Norway EV ad with Wil Ferrell..

Shame it’s so wooden in places and they could have made the key points more prominent and made them a lot quicker.

But fair play for diving in and making some good points. Half a million views already. – Dylan, CCO.

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