A Chicago ad agency was recognized for one of its Super Bowl commercials for the fourth time in the last five years.
Highdive was awarded the top commercial in USA Today's Ad Meter Ratings for its State Farm spot featuring actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.
"Once you get into the edit, and you’re laughing and having a good time, you’re like, 'ok this is going to perform pretty well,'" said Chad Broude, the co-founder and co-chief creative officer of Highdive.
Many agencies opted for humor and star power over potential controversy this year.
"It’s a time people want to have fun and relax and forget the world for a little bit," said Broude. "It’s also an election year, so there’s some sensitivity to that."
Other ads that scored well were Dunkin': "The DunKings" with Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jennifer Lopez and others; Verizon's "Can't Be Broken" starring Beyoncé; and Cerave's surprise standout featuring Michael Cera.
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Many advertisers leaned on celebrity endorsements to capture consumer attention, a growing trend on Super Bowl Sunday.
"Every ad had so many celebrities. There are some that totally make sense for the brand, that work really well. And, some that are totally cut and paste, like why?" said Ron D’Innocenzo, the Chief Creative Officer for Golin in Chicago.
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"That was a whole Tiktok, internet rumor about Michael Cera owning Cerave. It just built up, built up, built up, and then came the Super Bowl they really leaned into in such a great way. I thought it was really smart," D'Innocenzo said.
The Super Bowl is advertising's biggest stage, and companies paid the most ever to show off their products and services, a whopping $7 million for just 30 seconds of air time.
"It’s feeling. I laughed so much. I cried so much. I talked about it. If you are spending that much money, you want to leave people with an emotion not just an ad," said D'Innocenzo.
At Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business, MBA students once again ranked their top spots. A panel of 70 scored Doritos, Cerave and Google as the most successful.
"It was a good, solid crop of Super Bowl ads," said Professor Derek Rucker. "Not surprisingly, in light of some of the things that have happened over the year, brands played it safe."
"Sometimes ads can be a little clever and humorous," he said. "Other ads, like Google, talked about the functionality to emotion. [It was] an emotional ad about how you see the world, and that works."
It was hard to ignore the star power in the stands. From the Biebers to Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton, JAY-Z and Beyoncé to Lady Gaga, cameras caught celebrities enjoying the game, but none more than the Chiefs' most famous fan, Taylor Swift.
"The camera was on her more often than many of the players," said Myra Nussbaum, the Chief Creative Officer and President of HAVAS Chicago.
"I thought the way the NFL was smart to capture her presence at the game, it was kind of an ad in itself for the NFL," Nussbaum added.
Acknowledging the late night for her colleagues and fans, it was only the 2nd overtime in Super Bowl History, Nussbaum was working from an empty office Monday. She's calling for the day after the game to be recognized as a holiday at the national level.
'We are definitely advocating for Super Bowl Monday to become a national holiday. Maybe not national, but at least a Hallmark holiday, if you will. One where you get to take the day off and celebrate it in some way," she said.
