In Super Bowl LV, Tom Brady and his new team won his seventh ring with a one-sided victory. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had an impressive blowout win over Patrick Mahomes and his Kansas City Chiefs, with a score of 31 to 9.
Tom Brady affirmed his “living legend” status by now having more Super Bowl wins than any other NFL team. His first two touchdown passes were to his old friend from the Patriots, Rob Gronkowski. The Buc’s defense was also outstanding, keeping the Chiefs’ high-powered offense from scoring a touchdown. Bruce Arians became the oldest head coach to win a Super Bowl at 68 years and 127 days. Overall, it was a very impressive performance by Tampa!
Some of the commercials also stood out as the best of the best. Here are the winners!
Repeated Star Power Award
Paramount+ “Sweet Victory”
Paramount+ had several famous characters ranging from actors, athletes and cartoons that represented programming to stream on the service coming out in March. Each commercial, seemed to get better and better. The best of the bunch was when the Paramount stars, including Snooki, James Corden, Beavis and Butthead, reach the summit of Paramount Mountain. They realize they are metaphors.
Patrick Stewart tells the group, “We live here now on Mount Paramount. Isn't it glorious here?”
He then tells the group to dance. Stephen Colbert, who is bartending, says, “Sure, let’s make it weirder.”
All the ad dollars spent by Paramount+, will surely create more awareness for its offering of live sports, breaking news and a “mountain” of entertainment.
My Daughter’s Pick
Sam Adams – “Horses”
After skiing earlier in the day, my family drove by a farm that had Clydesdales hanging out in the snow. I told my kids, “We’ll likely see them later in a commercial tonight.” Little did I know it would be Sam Adams that would starring these impressive animals.
My daughter is 11 years old, so she likes animals, not beer. But even at her age, she recognized a great advertisement. She laughed when the huge horses stampeded through a New England town, because “your cousin from Boston” pulled out the pin, setting them free. The audience was expecting to see a Budweiser Clydesdale commercial just like so many lovable spots over the years. The main character says, “I did not see that coming.” Neither did we.
Although this might have been a regional commercial, it will draw some attention to Sam Adams and its promotion of its Wicked Hazy IPA.
The Runner Up Award Goes To…
Rocket Mortgage – “Certain Is Better”
Tracy Morgan shows a family wondering if they can afford a house what “pretty sure” looks like.
The dad drops from a poisonous berry, jumps from a plane with a backpack on, and has what might be a hive of murder hornets drop on his head.
After not making a car bridge jump, when Morgan says, “I am pretty sure we can make it,” the family agrees, “Certain is better.”
Another version of the ad with the “certain is better” theme also aired during the game.
The Best Super Bowl Ad Of 2021 Went To…
Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade – “Last Year’s Lemons”
With last year being such a difficult year because of the pandemic, it was expected that some inspirational commercials would be created to make the audience feel better about what our future holds. There were some of those ads, like Jeep’s “The Middle” that promotes The Reunited States of America with Bruce Springsteen talking about a tiny chapel in the center of the continental United States.
However, one ad took a humorous look back at last year and it stood out as the clear winner: Bud Light’s Seltzer Lemonade.
In the opening scene, in a backyard setting, one person asks, “When did Bud Light Seltzer start making lemonade?” Another lady replies, “Probably when 2020 handed us all those lemons.” A third person recalls, “2020 was a lemon of a year.”
Then looking back, starting with the 2020 New Year, lemons start raining down from the sky. First they take out a biker and then a man in his robe who was laughing at the biker. One man accidentally shaves part of his head. A bride, taking shelter with her husband, cries on her ruined wedding day.
Back by the backyard cooler, a fourth person grabs a can by the original three actors and says, “Well you know what they say, when life gives you lemons…” It was a clever way to launch a new product to the Super Bowl audience of over 185 million viewers.
The stands were limited to 25,000 seats used, approximately 7,500 of those were vaccinated health care workers who were given free tickets by the NFL. Those in the stands and watching from home could see Bud Light had incredible signage.
Bud Light seems to always be in the running, just like Tom Brady. I already cannot wait for next year! Hold the lemons.
Note: A special shout out to Erik Weihenmayer, a high school classmate of mine, that is “a blind man who conquered Mount Everest” seen in the beginning and the end of the Guaranteed Rate commercial, the last ad to run in the big game.
Mike Byrnes is a national speaker and owner of Byrnes Consulting LLC. His firm provides consulting services to help advisors become even more successful. Need help with business planning, marketing strategy, business development, client service and management effectiveness? Read more at ByrnesConsulting.com and follow @ByrnesConsultin.