What do AT&T, Sprint, Microsoft, Mophie and GoDaddy have in common? They all paid at least $4.5 million for a commercial spot during Super Bowl 49.
As you know, the yearly hand-egg championship — otherwise known as the Super Bowl — is the biggest national stage for television advertising commercials in America. It consistently tops the chart for the single most watched program year-after-year by dozens of millions of viewers. Super Bowl 48 was watched by 167 million people — 63 million more than the most watched television show — and Super Bowl 49 is sure to challenge that.
This is where companies tend to bring out their biggest guns for launching new advertising campaigns or bolstering existing ones, and Super Bowl 49’s commercial are no exception. Today we look at some of the best tech-related commercials from Super Bowl 49, and we wouldn’t mind you joining us in the comments following a quick poll to let us know which ads you liked the most.
What the carriers had to say about each other
Carriers have a tendency to spend big money to talk trash and stretch their britches during the big game. Was that the case for Super Bowl 49?
For Sprint, well, their plan to “apologize” to AT&T and Verizon for calling them sheep didn’t exactly work out… we figured that was going to happen. This time they just laid it out straight:
Message received. AT&T and Verizon: you’re expensive, and Sprint thinks you’re jackasses because of it.
T-Mobile’s ads were surprisingly on the more tame side of things. The company aired the self-shaming Kim Kardashian ad we’d already seen and also debuted the minute-long spit match between Sarah Silverman and Chelsae Handler where the two brag about the crazy places they can make calls thanks to T-Mobile’s WiFi calling.
This online-only Rob Riggles ad uses a raged vulture to describe how carriers treat your data:
Magenta’s ads served more to boast the carrier’s much-improved network and innovative features than trying to bring shame to the name of their lofty competitors. Good thing they didn’t get too ballsy with Seattle pride in all of this considering their home team had to go home empty-handed.
AT&T and Verizon, on the other hand, actually didn’t have anything to bring to the big game. We suppose that’s easy to do when they’re already the best in most folks’ mind (and Verizon’s status as the official wireless carrier of the NFL got them enough exposure as is). Verizon did dish out some interesting stats regarding mobile usage in Arizona during the game:
- There was a 35 percent spike in data traffic immediately following the Seahawks’ first-quarter interception.
- When New England opened the scoring, data usage surged 41 percent higher.
- Seattle powered in the tying touchdown, and the Verizon Wireless network powered through a 21 percent increase in data traffic.
- Data usage spiked again when New England scored just before halftime, jumping 20 percent.
- But when Seattle scored a TD to tie it up 14-14 with seconds remaining in the half, data jumped 30 percent.
- Wireless data usage during the Halftime Show hit a high note and increased 60 percent.
- Fun fact: Nearly 60 percent of wireless users at the Super Bowl are using a Verizon device
Cool beans, VZDub.
Super Bowl ads from elsewhere in the tech world
Unfortunately there weren’t many other ads from the big names in wireless technology (such as Samsung, LG or HTC) but there were some pretty good spots from other corners of the tech world.
Wix uses Brett Favre, Terrell Owens and Emmit Smith to show off their website builder:
And Squarespace uses a much less exciting cast to show theirs (no offense to Jeff Bridges):
Bryant Gumble asks Katie Couric if she can twerk in an ad that makes fun of their lack of knowledge about the internet years ago:
Having to battle Liam Neeson in Clash of Clans is perhaps the most frightening gaming experience you can have:
No disgusting kissing scenes from GoDaddy this year, but this lost puppy’s trek to a new home is pretty cruel (and yes, this ad was banned):
And, well, this is just about the most depressing way you can advertise domain name services:
For Mophie, having your phone die on you is akin to apocalyptic madness:
Say what you want about Microsoft, but they sure know how to make an ad that makes you feel good about technology:
It was a pretty mild showing from all companies this year compared to the crazy antics we’ve become used to, though that’s likely due to the NFL’s quest to cut down on racy and controversial images. They don’t call it the “No Fun League” for nothing, folks. Be sure to search around for more great ads from other companies if you’re curious about the rest.
YouTube held their own Super Bowl Halftime “show”
One last tidbit before we roll out: YouTube made its own Super Bowl halftime “show” (which was really just a collection of YouTube videos) for those who don’t dig Katy Perry. For what it’s worth, Perry’s performance was pretty good, and that’s coming from a guy who thinks she sounds like a howling sausage that’s been in the microwave a few seconds too long.
The show featured a few comedy sketches that look to tickle your funny bone:
It’s not the best knee-slapping stuff in the world, but no one’s expecting that from a team that probably doesn’t feature the most talented comedy writers. More can be had at the AdBlitz YouTube channel right here. It was a pretty cool year for the Super Bowl overall so be sure to let us know your favorite moments, ads and performances with a vote in the poll and in the comments below.
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