The Super Bowl may be the crème de la crème of American sports spectacles, but more importantly, it’s the World Championship of advertising.

With nearly 112 million viewers and a price tag of $5M (up from $4.5M in ‘15) for 30 seconds of glory, the chance of scoring is not much different than a “Hail Mary” to win the big game.

To determine the brands that scored, L7 Creative has gathered its collective expertise and weighed in on some of the most talked about spots that played in Super Bowl 50.

Feel free to comment and let us know which ad was your favorite! Here is our office-wide poll:

• Mountain Dew Kickstart “PuppyMonkeyBaby”:
  On the fence of terrifying and entertaining, Mountain Dew Kickstart introduced the world to the puppymonkeybaby creature to make three of the new drinks’ ingredients (dew, juice, and caffeine) memorable. Although the commercial grabbed the viewers attention, in the end the product was lost in the absurdity of it all.
    – Creepy: Yes
    – Funny: Kinda
    – Buzz factor: High
    – Overall consensus: 3 out of a possible 5
  
  
• Heinz “Weiner Stampede”:
  Hundreds of Weiner dogs turned hot dogs happily racing towards a family of Heinz condiments; it doesn’t get much cuter. Next time you’re in the condiment aisle just try getting the image of these adorable floppy-eared hot dogs out of your head. And that’s what successful branding is all about.
    – Cute: Are you kidding?
    – Funny: Sure
    – Buzz factor: High
    – Overall consensus: 4/5
  
  
• Axe “Find your Magic”:
  Veering from their normal hyper-masculine approach, Axe ousted six packs and instead promoted every man’s “own thing”, from prominent noses to redheads. By embracing the quirks and ditching body norms, Axe racked up some serious kudos in our book.
    – Empowering: Absolutely
    – Provocative: Yes
    – Buzz factor: Medium
    – Overall consensus: 4/5
  
  
• Hyundai “First Date”:
  Summed up in 3 words: The Overprotective Father. It’s been done before, and while Kevin Hart added star power and a great performance, in the end, the spot came off as predictable. However, it did highlight the somewhat stalker-ish car finder app feature of the Hyundai Genesis pretty well.
    – Original: Hardly
    – Funny: Barely
    – Buzz factor: Low
    – Overall consensus: 2/5
  
  
• NO MORE “Text Talk”:
  In the midst of over the top, outrageous ads, NO MORE took a real-life approach to the issue of domestic violence and sexual assault experienced through the medium of a text conversation. NO MORE urged viewers to recognize signs of abuse and to be proactive in reporting them. This sobering PSA brought an emotional topic into the living rooms of 111.9 million viewers.
    – Effective: Absolutely
    – Provocative: Yes
    – Buzz factor: High
    – Overall consensus: 5/5
  
  
• Bud Light “Bud Light Party”:
  Move over DNC and GOP, now here’s a political party we can definitely get behind. According to this spot, the “Bud Light Party” campaign is in full force. Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen piled on the funny promoting their beer-fueled political party and dropping some predictable “big caucus” jokes. It’s a shame that one of our most venerable brands is no longer American.
    – Funny: Sure
    – Overdone: Maybe
    – Buzz factor: Medium
    – Overall consensus: 3/5
  

Super Bowl 50 Vital Statistics:

• 111,900,000 viewers
  
• 71,000 in attendance
  
• Denver Broncos 24, Carolina Panthers 10
  
• $5M for a :30 spot
  
• $45 CPM (cost per thousand impressions)
  

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