Super Bowl Ads 2015: The Best and Worst Ads

This year’s game stunned us, and it wasn’t just the final score or what some are calling the worst play call in Super Bowl history. It was the brands. While some of last night’s commercials were inspiring, some should serve as a cautionary tale for years to come.

Specifically, Anheuser-Busch aired a sarcastic attack ad against the ever-growing craft beer industry. At first glance, one might understand their stance, as their dominant market share has slowly started to erode due to the growth of the craft beer industry. The moment that gave many viewers pause was the us-versus-them declaration of, “Let them sip their pumpkin peach ale. We’ll be brewing us some golden suds.” What most consumers don’t know is that Anheuser-Busch has been on an aggressive campaign of acquiring regional craft breweries. Most notably, they recently acquired Elysian Brewing, which currently offers a pumpkin peach ale. It makes you scratch your head at how a company could call out and attack some of its own brands. This strategy had an immediate backlash, spurring a Twitter uprising and the trending hashtag, #BETTERBEER.

Also, Nationwide Insurance’s commercial generated immediate backlash because of its dark nature. You know you’re in trouble when you have to issue a late-night statement regarding your TV ad, and Nationwide did just that. In an ad that was meant to “start a conversation” on preventable child deaths in America, Nationwide was actually testing their latest strategy for selling insurance.

Among the most memorable commercials was the Chevy Colorado ad. The car manufacturer conveyed a simple message in a very creative way: the new Colorado is equipped with 4G LTE Wi-Fi. Seconds before kick-off, TV signals across the nation seemed to go out, only to be greeted by Chevy’s line “What would you do if your TV went out?”

Several brands tried to convey a more social message, but only Always succeeded. Their #LikeAGirl ad was a great TV success, and it went beyond traditional media. The campaign translated flawlessly to Twitter and Facebook, generating thousands of user interactions.

The biggest story in advertising, however, was not on the TV screen. This year, brands took on to Twitter in an unprecedented level, generating more than 1.5 million Super Bowl ad mentions in one day. Beyond that, advertisers focused on an ever-increasing form of engagement: brand-on-brand tweeting. This year’s Super Bowl generated more brands tweeting one another than any other game.

Hey, @BUDWEISER! Stop bidding on our ad keywords. Love, Loctite

— Loctite Glue (@LoctiteGlue) February 2, 2015

@Charmin We know you like to #EnjoyTheGo. Why not go to http://t.co/8tFRlb2A7c. It’s where to go to make the Internet happy. #MakeItHappy

— Coca-Cola (@CocaCola) February 2, 2015

Fly #LikeAGirl. pic.twitter.com/42tpWwY7WH

— JetBlue Airways (@JetBlue) February 2, 2015

Overall, brands are finding new ways to interact with consumers across different mediums. The proliferation of smart phones and tablets has allowed for us to connect and communicate instantly –whether in front of a TV or at the actual game.

Check out this commercial that made it to the top of our list.

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Velocity Agency is a digital marketing and advertising firm specializing in digital and internet marketing & advertising, print, web design, graphic design, film, and HD video promotion and post-production. Velocity serves clients all over the United States from our Metairie, LA office just outside of New Orleans by strategically implementing proprietary tools and techniques to get you the most conversions for your business through lead generation, cost-per-acquisition, and top line revenue.