Media Trends 2 pm S20: Audience Metrics & Advertising

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Audience Metrics & Advertising - Blog 2, Question 1 (Feb. 4th)

How would you assess this year’s Super Bowl – from the commercials to the halftime show to the game itself? In this changing media environment, is the Super Bowl as influential as a showcase for advertisers, performers, and the NFL as it was in the past?
Limit: 11 responses

21 comments:

Matt HalpinFebruary 3, 2020 at 3:03 PM
As is the case with most Americans, I have always had a reason to watch the super bowl. Though not everyone is a football fan, I think it is fair to assume that the NFL’s biggest game has something for everyone to enjoy. For some, it’s the game, for others, it’s the half time show. For me, however, it has always been the commercials. They have added humor and joy to even the most boring of games (looking at you, Pats and Rams).
However, recently, I have noticed a troubling trend among commercials during the Super Bowl that has me questioning the marketing department of many big corporations. The increase of sad, touching ads is not only an ineffective way to appeal to a sports audience, but it is also abandoning everything that has made super bowl ads great in the past.
Think about the best super bowl commercials of all time. Budweiser seemed to master the art of the Super Bowl ad with simple, yet ever-memorable funny commercials. Tide made a perfect commercial featuring a talking stain in 2008 (Wong, Adweek). Doritos constantly comes through with timeless hilarious Super Bowl spots that are casual, simple and not too large for life. The thing about sad, touching ads during the Super Bowl is that nobody is here for it. People watch the Super Bowl to relax, hang out with friends, eat some food and have some casual laughs. Why ON EARTH would I want to see a commercial for Google of a widower telling Google Assistant about his dead wife? Just why? That’s 5 million dollars wasted, fire your marketing team.
Even in its first installment, the Super Bowl has had huge ratings. In fact, the 1969 Super Bowl drew in a rating that was 13% higher than the top-rated entertainment series at the time. (Porter, Hollywood Reporter). Therefore, it makes sense that the networks charge so high when it is selling the spots for the game. However, this has become way too bloated over the past few decades. In my opinion, the pricing of commercial spots during the super bowl is so absurdly high that most companies who buy an ad slot try way too hard to make it groundbreaking and special.
Often, not only do they fail, but they end up seeming extremely corny and fail bigtime at making an impression on viewers. I think that the way that most companies go about their Super Bowl ads nowadays is extremely ignorant. They try to inorganically force memes down Americans’ throats. Look at the Planters ad in Sunday’s Super Bowl. After killing off Mr. Peanut, they hopped on the cute baby character train and completely ripped off Baby Yoda.(Aquilina, Entertainment Weekly). Clearly, they want the same publicity that Mandalorian got with Baby Yoda, but this came off so lazy and inorganic. They try so hard to be larger than life, and often attempt to appeal to the viewer’s softer side. I say screw that. Bring these commercials back to the basics. Be simple, quick and funny. Nobody is going to buy your product if you kill everyone’s buzz at the Super Bowl party and frankly, it seems to be the largest companies with the most issues that try to use these heartfelt commercials to seem like a more human company. Someday, companies will realize this. Until then, they are just wasting their money.

Aquilina, Tyler. “Mr. Peanut, iconic Planters mascot, dies at 104.” Entertainment Weekly,22 Jan. 2020

Porter, Rick. “TV Long View: The Super Bowl Has Never Not Been Huge.” Hollywood Reporter,1 Feb. 2020

Wong, Elaine. “Consumers Give New Voice to Tide to Go’s ‘Talking Stain.’” Adweek, 4 Sept. 2008.

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Danielle DiMauroFebruary 3, 2020 at 4:13 PM
I enjoyed this year’s Superbowl. I’m not an avid football fan, but I always want to watch the game for the commercials and the halftime show. My favorite part of the broadcast this year was Shakira and Jennifer Lopez’s halftime show. Their performance was significantly better than Maroon 5 and Travis Scott’s lackluster performance last year. I was incredibly impressed that they could sing and dance their hearts out in such an amazing performance and look fantastic while doing so considering Shakira is 43 and Jennifer Lopez is 50. I also thought it was amazing that two successful women representing the Latinx community were able to command the stage and put on an amazing performance.

It’s no mystery that advertisers and musicians alike want to be seen on the Superbowl. It is one of the few areas of traditional broadcast that has managed to hold its own, as “ratings for the show have been pretty consistent while programming in other areas of TV have declined” (Porter). The Superbowl “has consistently averaged an audience equivalent to about a third of the population… people who watch six minutes or more is typically up to 40 percent higher than the average audience per minute” (Porter). Additionally, “on the average Super Bowl Sunday, it captures two thirds of the audience watching TV” (Porter). This data shows exactly why the Superbowl is crucial for advertisers and musicians to get their names out there with a memorable commercial or performance.

The performers at the Superbowl halftime show seem to be people that already have a well-established career. The halftime show doesn’t usually showcase new artists like Billie Eilish and instead have featured big names such as Paul McCartney, Madonna, Beyoncé, and Prince. Despite this, even experienced and well-established musicians need to publicize themselves. After the 2017 Superbowl halftime show, Lady Gaga saw one of her months-old albums skyrocket 60 spaces to No. 2 on the Billboard charts. A year later, Justin Timberlake saw a 214% spike in Spotify streams after his Superbowl performance (Greenburg). Not only does performing in the Superbowl influence people to listen to musicians’ music again, it may also convince them to go on one of their tours. According to StubHub, traffic on the ticketing site “jumps at least 50% for all halftime acts and sometimes much more” (Greenburg). After their Superbowl halftime show, Maroon 5 boosted its average profit per city while on tour by $200,000 to $1.7 million (Greenburg).

Despite the major benefits to performing t the halftime show, performers have declined the offer. In recent years, even massive stars such as Rihanna, Cardi B, and Adele have declined to perform at the 2019 Superbowl halftime show. Rihanna and Carbi B both declined the NFL’s offer to perform at the 2019 Superbowl because they did not like how the league handled the controversy surrounding Colin Kaepernick. Cardi B “encountered TMZ paparazzi and said she refused to perform at the Super Bowl until Kaepernick is rehired” (Bowenbank). Additionally, in recent years, performers have struck deals with the NFL in which they are not paid for their show, but the NFL covers all production costs associated with the show. There have even been rumors that for future shows the NFL may charge musicians a fee to perform at the halftime show. Although many performers for the halftime show are capable of earning six or seven figures per tour stop, “they are willing to perform for free and even subsidize the production costs through their record label or concert promoters because of this incredible exposure” (Greenburg).
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Ryan FargoFebruary 3, 2020 at 5:06 PM
Ryan Fargo

Super Bowl Assessment

No matter who is in the big game I am always going to be on the couch watching the game. Most years it is because the Patriots are in it. In the off chance that Patriots are not in the Super Bowl I will still be watching because I have grown to love football. The best thing about the Super Bowl is that there is never a dull moment, and I mean never. Even when the game is low scoring and there haven’t been any awe-inspiring plays there’s always the half time show or the commercials to look forward to. I remember my favorite commercials growing up would be the Career Builder Ads with the monkeys. They always made me laugh and made me want to stay on the couch instead of getting more dip or going to the bathroom. These commercials stuck with me for so long because of the humor, it always made me laugh. According to Duncan Macleod these commercials where named the top ad in “The Funniest Commercials of 2005” (Macleod, The Inspiration Room) I wish they had continued doing these commercials. The fact that I still can vividly remember the means their marketing team was doing something right!
This Super Bowl there where a lot of funny ads like the Doritos, can’t touch this ad. Being from Boston I can say my favorite ad was either the Hulu one with Tom Brady or the Hyundai “Smaht Pahk” one. While there where some good funny ones I also noticed some serious and sometimes sad commercials. I don’t think these commercials are as effective. Commercials such as the “Loretta” Google commercial or basically any Verizon commercial doesn’t stick with me as well as the ones with humor. I believe the super bowl is a time to kick back, relax with friend’s ad family, and forget about reality for a few hours. (Griner, Adweek)
I believe the Super Bowl will always be viewed by millions and that will not change. Since 1978 the Super Bowl “has consistently averaged an audience equivalent to about a third of the population.” (Porter, Hollywood Reporter) I understand the idea of a heartfelt commercial because it reaches out to so many people and companies want to use that platform to address issues and hopefully inflict change upon our community. However, from a marketing stand point I don’t see the value in spending over 5 million dollars to send a message.

“Careerbuilder.com Recruits Monkeys for Marketing.” The Inspiration Room, 3 Nov. 2019
Griner. “The 10 Best Super Bowl Ads of 2020.” Adweek, Adweek, 3 Feb. 2020
Porter, Rick. “TV Long View: The Super Bowl Has Never Not Been Huge.” The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Feb. 2020
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UnknownFebruary 3, 2020 at 5:54 PM
Cooper Brown

No matter who is playing in the Super Bowl I always end up watching the game. So much goes into experience of it that it makes it must watch television each year. There is so much hype surrounding the game and many more things such as commercials and halftime show. When comparing this Super Bowl to the previous I think this years game was more enjoyable in terms of commercials and halftime show. The commercials are a huge draw for companies because it is a time when people are all tuned to one channel. Companies are willing to spend millions of dollars to reach this massive audience. In fact, "a 30-second Super Bowl ad will cost companies $5.6 million – that's a whopping $186,666 per second." (Su/McDowell). When looking at this years Super Bowl compared to last years I enjoyed the commercials and halftime more this year. I expected the typical companies to have the best commercial such as Bud Light and Doritos to have the best commercial and they pulled through. I thought the Post Malone Bud Light seltzer commercial to be one of the more memorable ones in recent memory. I was surprise to see Planters continue with their commercial dedicated to the passing of Mr.Peanut. With the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant I assumed people did not want to see a commercial focused on death. However, the introduced "Baby Nut" in a commercial which seemed to stem from the insane success of Baby Yoda. In my opinion, It was a confusing commercial because I did not see the point in killing off Mr.Peanut. The commercial was described as a loser as "Planters offered an odd fake-out by introducing a baby version while other corporate spokes-characters mourned. Ultimately, the legume gave his life in the service of a misguided campaign" (Lowry). With the passing of Kobe I feel as though this ad was poorly timed. I was surprised to see a political ad during the game as "Michael R. Bloomberg’s presidential campaign has secured a 60-second advertising spot to air nationally during next month’s Super Bowl telecast, an ad buy that will most likely cost at least $10 million" (Corasaniti) as well as an ad devoted to Trump's work in the criminal justice system.

The halftime show seemed better than last year. Shakira and J-Lo made a lot of sense for this show as they are legends in the Miami community. It certainly made more sense than Maroon 5 and Travis Scott. The show this year felt more cohesive than last year.
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Kyra BirnbaumFebruary 3, 2020 at 6:03 PM
Super Bowl LIV was a memorable one. The game had my whole focus from kick off, to the orange Gatorade getting dumped on the coach. The commercials were comical and created a huge trend throughout social media. In the article, Marketing Dive it states, For 2020’s game, marketers snapped up the coveted 77 slots by Thanksgiving — some going for as much as $5.6 million per 30-second spot. It’s the earliest a Super Bowl has sold out since 2011, when the big game’s lineup filled the previous October” (Sumida). This reflects on how great the commercials were as they created humorous, personable ads. For example, Cheetos promoted their new popcorn in a funny way. Cheeto dust was used to not be able to perform a task. It added a twist as Hammer pops out says “You Can’t touch this.” It created a relatable, but funny way how the product is perceived. This shows how Cheetos mastered an upbeat, enjoyable Ad. This made an impact on how the product stood out to me and many other people. There were many other brands that made an impact to the viewers. Some of these brands were Snickers, Hyuandai Sonata, and Porshe.
There commercials were a huge hit as so was the halftime show. Shakira and Jennifer Lopez provided great entertainment. They were powerful and energetic, I thought they showed excellent talent and put on an outstanding performance. The commercials and the halftime show are great aspects in the Super Bowl but the game its self was greatly recognized as well. It was intense as the Chiefs made a tremendous comeback. It was thrilling to both teams and created more action. The Hollywood Reporter shares, “When 100 million or so people turn on Fox Sunday to watch the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, that will represent an audience that's been relatively constant, even as the rest of television is scarcely recognizable from what it was a half-century ago” (Porter). This shows how many people watch the Super Bowl and how it is getting more influential. As more and more people are watching, the media environment is getting more competitive. The past focused more on the game as now the Super Bowl as different important factors to create a “good” game. This connects to another statement in, The Hollywood Reporter, “The Super Bowl has made leaps of 20 percent or more in total viewers three times in its history” (Porter). This shows how the average audience is increasing. Besides the publicity of the professional football teams, the companies created memorable commercials that receive attention as well. These brands work so hard to try to evoke positive emotion about the brand. An article from CNN states, “There’s a symbolic nature of Super Bowl advertising that just isn't the same as other platforms," Calkins said. "A Super Bowl ad used to be a Super Bowl ad, but over the past decade, it's really become a two-week extravaganza" (Disis). This quote connects to how significant the media is now. Companies spend millions of dollars for this event as they know it will help them. They even use popular streaming services as it helps spread the buzz early on. For example, Calkins also states, “Another common tactic is for a company to release its ad ahead of time on YouTube. It might seem counterintuitive to give away the surprise before you have a captive audience, but a good spot can generate welcome buzz.” I agree with this as they want to get people talking and bring awareness to what they have to offer. I have sometimes looked on YouTube to get an idea of what companies are going to be promoting. This is now a big deal to the media world as it gets a huge trend. Media platforms are continuing to grow everyday and I am excited to see how it will impact the Super Bowl even more next year.

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UnknownFebruary 3, 2020 at 6:20 PM
Sophia Toppo
Blog 2

I have never been too invested in football or the Super Bowl, but as a media studies major and advertising minor, I decided it was important to keep up to date with the most famous game of the year. I was not feeling any sense of hype this year because most of the people I know at school are from New England and they were upset the Patriots were not playing. I was expecting very little people to watch, and I wondered how the ratings were going to be this year. While I thought they were going to be low, according to an article in The Hollywood Reporter, “Ratings for the game have remained pretty consistent over the years, even as the rest of television has undergone enormous changes”(Porter, 2020). Around 100 million people tune into the game no matter who is playing.
While watching the game I actually found myself very entertained. The game itself was a close one, as San Francisco had the lead for most of the first tow quarters, but as the end was nearing, Kansas City scored two touchdowns, guaranteeing their victory. I was shocked. The advertisements were also entertaining and interesting. I’m not going to lie, I shed a tear while watching the Google commercial about remembering Loretta. According to an article in Adweek, “Google used creative storytelling through the lens of its own product, creating a powerful story of enduring love…it takes the dry interface of technology into a deeply personal place”(Griner, 2020). And the Tide commercial that made many appearances throughout the game was both clever and funny. I was confused as to why Maisie Williams was singling Let it Go while driving an Audi, but it still got my attention. As an advertisement minor, I started to examine how these ideas came to be and why they are worthy of a Super bowl spot. Overall, I think the advertisements were funny, clever and featured a large variety of celebrity appearances. The halftime show was probably one of the best performances I have seen in a very long time. Shakira and Jlow absolutely killed it. The back up dancers were on point and energetic, the songs were powerful and upbeat, and JLow and Shakira blended together perfectly. I had chills watching the entire thing.
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Brian HanslinFebruary 3, 2020 at 8:22 PM
This years Super Bowl was a weird one for me. Everyone that I told that too all relied with something along the lines of “Oh, just because your Patriots aren’t playing in the Super Bowl the game doesn’t feel important?” Well they aren’t wrong, it does feel weird that the Patriots didn’t make it past the wild card round, but for some reason the game just didn’t seem to be as much of a spectacle as it typically does. Even though “on Sunday somewhere north of 60 percent of the TV-watching public will be watching the big game.” (Porter), I just cannot say with honesty that this game felt like a Super Bowl. It could be partly due to the fact that I was watching the game in standard definition, but I feel that only hindered my enjoyment slightly. While the game was fairly competitive, there were not many “holy s**t I can’t believe that happened” plays.
If there was any standout from the whole broadcast, it would have to be the halftime show. I have had a crush on J-Lo for as long as I can remember, and she absolutely killed it along side Shakira putting on one of the best halftime shows in recent memory, and I’m sure Twitter will vouch for that as well. People were eating the performance up, posting rave reviews and talking about Shakira for the first time since she disappeared some 10 years ago. It just goes to show that one event shown to millions of people can resurrect a career, who would’ve thought?
Commercials seem to be getting weaker and weaker each year, and this year seemed to follow suit, as “It wasn’t the strongest year, with few truly iconic pieces of creative” (Griner) leaving only a handful of commercials that are recollectable the day after. There was a great Rocket Mortgage commercial that had the room laughing for the majority of the following commercial, and how could I not mention the Planters commercial? I know that when something gets popular or gains success, imitation in inevitable, buy holy cow was this the biggest baby Yoda rip off I could’ve ever imagined. I understand “the internet is pretty divided by Baby Nut’s sudden and, dare I say, nutty (HAHAHAH) emergence into the world.” (Bonner) Baby Yoda ruled the internet for weeks after the release of The Mandolorian, but I think people saw right through this ad for what it is. I haven’t seen a whole lot of take to Twitter and talk well about the ad, and everyone that I have talked about the ad with all agree that it is just a poor mans baby Yoda. I suppose there was no harm in trying, its not like I’m going to stop eating my Planters honey roasted peanuts because of this, and if things went well there was a chance for virality, which is just about everything in today’s media world.
Work Cited
Bonner, Mehera. “Baby Nut, the Rebirth of Mr. Peanut, Is Dividing the Internet.” Cosmopolitan, Cosmopolitan, 3 Feb. 2020, www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a30744051/baby-nut-super-bowl-mr-peanut/.
Griner. “The 10 Best Super Bowl Ads of 2020.” Adweek, Adweek, 3 Feb. 2020, www.adweek.com/creativity/the-10-best-super-bowl-ads-of-2020/.
Porter, Rick. “TV Long View: The Super Bowl Has Never Not Been Huge.” The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Feb. 2020, www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/super-bowl-tv-ratings-history-been-huge-1275466?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR's Today in Entertainment_2020-02-01 07:00:00_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie.
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Larryssa Jean-JulesFebruary 4, 2020 at 3:01 AM
Larryssa Jean-Jules

Just last week we were celebrating music’s biggest night, the Grammys, while also mourning the loss of the great Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and close friends. This weekend, we are celebrating the biggest night of the year, the Super Bowl. Each year, millions of people come together with friends and family to celebrate this day because there’s something for everyone.
Some are actual football fans, some just watch for the commercials and others just watch for the halftime show.

Not everyone gets chosen to do the Super Bowl halftime show, so having the opportunity to be named amongst some of the most iconic performers such as Prince, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Beyoncé is big. Often some of the most iconic moments from the Super Bowl come from the halftime show. Who could forget the infamous nip-slip from Justin Timberlake ripping off Janet Jackson’s top, or Beyoncé shutting down the Super Bowl, literally causing a power outage during the game, with her halftime performance in 2013.

When it came to the halftime show this year that featured JLo and Shakira, I thought it was a pretty good performance in terms of bringing representation to the forefront of America and a celebration of a different culture. Unfortunately their performance was met with a lot of controversy from the older audiences who were calling it “inappropriate and not family friendly”.

Gil Smart of USA Today described the performance as “soft-core porn” and even went on to suggest that the NFL provide some sort of trigger warning and talks about it negatively affecting kids. (Smart 2020)

When it came to the actual game, I thought it was exciting to see the Kansas City Chiefs winning a Super Bowl after 50 years and a 24 year old quarterback pulling this off. However, being a Patriots fan and not seeing the Pats in the Super Bowl stung a little. It also didn’t help that New England was also unsure about the future of our quarterback Tom Brady and his cryptic message of whether or not he was staying or leaving the organization. However, seeing that the picture he posted turned out to be an ad for Hulu and him hinting at ‘staying’ definitely was a memorable moment.

When it came to the commercials this year, I think that they weren’t as good this year and they were rather pretty mediocre. For example, State Farm recycled their previous ad with the “what are you wearing Jake from state farm” and just added a little something different at the end which seemed lazy to me. There was also the Planters ad which was in reference to Mr. Peanut being killed off, which seemed to be trying to capitalize on the ‘Baby Yoda’ obsession by creating a ‘baby nut’. Lowry said it best when he said “Ultimately, the legume gave his life in the service of a misguided campaign.”( Lowry 2020)

I would say that my favorite commercials this year were the Hyundai Sonata “Smaht Pahk”, Hulu and Google ads because they were relevant and relatable. David Griner of Ad week also had a similar ranking of the Google Ad on his 10 Best Super Bowl Ads of 2020 where he placed it at #2. He summed up the ad saying that “its emotional impact is potent, and it takes the dry interface of technology into a deeply personal place.” (Griner)

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UnknownFebruary 4, 2020 at 11:16 AM
Dylan Lewis

Super Bowl Monday. It’s not a national holiday, but maybe it should be. According to The Hollywood Reporter, ratings increased from last year’s event to 99.9 million viewers (Rick). I think it’s safe to assume that a significant portion of those viewers had a great time watching, even if they were only interested in the commercials,and have a bit of a hangover today.

Those ratings sound great, but, according to a CNBC story that ran after last year’s Super Bowl, ratings in 2019 were the lowest in over 10 years (Lucy). Ratings actually peaked in 2015 when 114.4 million viewers tuned in to see the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks.

That is a pretty serious decline. It’s had little impact on NFL and broadcaster’s revenues though. A 30 second commercial will cost advertisers between $5 - $5.5 million. In an era where audiences have become more and more fragmented, there are few opportunities for these advertisers to capture an audience the size that the Super Bowl can. If you are Michael Bloomberg with lots of cash, this is the place. If you are Donald Trump, you can’t let anyone out-shout you, so Fox gets another check.

Is the money spent on these commercials worth it? Companies as diverse as Amazon, Budweiser, Jeep and Verizon pay up for these slots every year. A recent study indicates that ads for upcoming movies can have a meaningful impact, at least in the competing team’s cities. The Top Gun sequel is months away so I am not sure how the ad during the game is going to affect box office results.

A survey conducted by USA Today and Ad Meter showed that responder’s satisfaction with yesterday’s commercials was down substantially. Jeep was the favorite with a score of 7.01; last year’s favorite was an NFL commercial celebrating the league’s 100th anniversary at 7.69. The bottom line is likely that Jeep will still sell plenty of cars.

Carlson, Ben. “Are Super Bowl Ads Worth The Money?” A Wealth of Common Sense, 1 Feb. 2019, awealthofcommonsense.com/2019/02/are-super-bowl-ads-worth-the-money/.

Handley, Lucy. “Super Bowl Draws Lowest TV Audience in More than a Decade, Early Data Show.” CNBC, CNBC, 5 Feb. 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/02/05/super-bowl-draws-lowest-tv-audience-in-more-than-a-decade-nielsen.html.

Porter, Rick. “TV Ratings: Super Bowl LIV Draws 100M Viewers, Up Slightly vs. 2019.” The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Feb. 2020, www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/super-bowl-liv-masked-singer-tv-ratings-sunday-feb-2-2020-1275713.

Suter, Rick, and Nate Scott. “2020 Ad Meter Results.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, admeter.usatoday.com/.
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SophieFebruary 4, 2020 at 11:28 AM
To be totally honest, I’m not the biggest football fan (or a fan at all, really, or even someone who knows the rules of the game). Regardless, I almost always try to watch the entire thing each year, for the same reason many of us do: I like the feeling of participating in a national, culture-wide event, especially in a time where it’s rare that the entire country is watching the same thing, at the same time, filmed live.
The first thing that struck me while watching the advertisements this year was the overwhelming amount of homages and references to other brands or media. I saw it first with State Farm’s revamped (kind of?) version of their iconic “Jake from State Farm” commercial. Then again in Jeep’s ad, featuring “Bill Murray in a "Groundhog Day" spoof -- reunited with co-stars like Stephen Tobolowsky -- on Groundhog Day” (Lowry). Then even more in Walmart’s mash-up of science fiction movie scenes, and finally again in Mountain Dew’s spoof of “The Shining” with Bryan Crasnston. Of course, celebrity appearances in commercials are nothing new (they’re one of the basics of any modern advertising) but it did seem a bit over-the-top this year. I felt like the majority of the advertisements relied on star power or other cultural associations rather than their actual product; as Lowry puts it, “Too many of this year's advertisers seemed to confuse activity for achievement, as if being loud and colorful was enough.” (Lowry). There’s not even anything necessarily wrong with that—the Superbowl is a show, meant for entertainment, and the ads are a part of that. I, personally, just like it when advertisers create original content/catchphrases/gags/etc., that can be fully understood without another reference.
There were also some ads that I genuinely enjoyed watching. Chrissy Tiegan and John Legend’s Genesis commercial was, I admit, only good because I love the celebrity couple. I was of course a sucker for Microsoft’s Katie Sowers ad, which did a good job of “devot[ing] its ad space to her accomplishments and inspiring message while still incorporating her use of the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 tablet without detracting from her moment in the spotlight.” (Griner). I had mixed feelings about Tide’s ad series; on one hand it had Charlie Day, whom I love, but on the other, I felt confused by the mixing and intertwining of different brands and products, including “spilling over into a promo for The Masked Singer, carousing with the Bud Knight and even crossing paths with Wonder Woman.” (Griner).
Ads I didn’t like at all? That’d have to be the ones paid for by the Trump and Bloomberg campaigns. Even setting aside my personal political beliefs (which include disliking both candidates) I felt that these ads seemed somewhat desperate. After all, “Super Bowl ads are rarely seen in presidential politics.. a national buy has often been out of reach, given the expense. It is also usually viewed as wasteful to pay to reach a 50-state audience rather than buying ads in key states where campaigns would prefer to target their message.” (Corasanti). So to spend over $10 million on one? It just comes off as weird. Especially for Bloomberg—who on earth is polling Bloomberg?
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Nick CarrozzaFebruary 4, 2020 at 11:32 AM
Nick Carrozza
Professor Burns
MSS 495
2/3/20
Week 3 Blog

Despite my love of sports, I have grown less and less interested in the Super Bowl over the years. This could be due to the Patriots ruining everything but that’s neither here nor there. Of course, I still watch the big game every year because I don’t want to miss out. In recent years there have been incredible super bowls and there have been boring super bowls. Last year was an example of a boring overall game. The Super Bowl is so much more than the actual game itself. In the past few decades the Super Bowl has become a national holiday. People throw parties, drink, eat, and have a good time no matter who is playing the game. Some people don’t even watch the game, they just like to get together and have fun on that day. Everyone has their own preference or way of enjoying the game. For example, tons of my guy friends bet on every little detail of the Super Bowl. This can range from the score to the coin toss to the color of the Gatorade poured on the coach.
Another major aspect of the Super Bowl is the commercials. Everyone knows that Super Bowl commercials are better than any ordinary commercials. This is due to companies trying to reach the massive number of guaranteed viewers. Companies buy air times anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds. These commercials are worth millions of dollars each. In the past five to ten years unfortunately the commercials have become less funny and more political or serious. People watch the Super Bowl to have a good time, not to be shamed my PETA for stepping on an ant. This year’s commercials were alright. We all know there will be a mix of sad, funny, serious and a few hundred car commercials. With the rise of social media in particular, commercials have become even bigger of a deal because they want people to talk about them. It is up to companies not only to buy airtime but to effectively impact the viewer. The key is to be memorable. Some of the most memorable commercials this year were from Google, Mr. Peanut, Tide, Trump, and Bloomberg.
The game itself was good this year. Solid two teams who matched up well and competed until the very end. The Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers played in Super Bowl 54 and it ended 31-20 in favor of the Chiefs. Not much else to say really. Both offenses and defenses played well. Nothing too crazy happened. One more key aspect to the Super Bowl is the halftime show. This is one of the biggest concerts in the world. Millions watch just for the halftime show because they love the artist performing. In years past we have seen Michael Jackson, Metallica, Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Travis Scott and many more. This year’s performance was done by J-Lo and Shakira. Not going to lie I was not expecting to like this, but it turned out great. Social media was buzzing during and after the performance due to such a great performance.
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Nick CarrozzaFebruary 4, 2020 at 11:32 AM
When reflecting on past Super Bowl’s and the influence of commercials it feels like they are still very important but not as crucial as before. If a company decides to spend the millions of dollars on a thirty second ad it will be seen by millions of people like any other year. With the rise of social media, it seems like a waste to pay so much for a television commercial when you can reach just as many people online. All you need is creativity and an understanding of people. So, I would say yes, the Super Bowl is less influential than before. Despite the recent changes in how people consume media, I would say ratings do still matter. Being able to see how many people are seeing your advertisement is key. Another way you could potentially track media consumption could be observing how many people see your ads on social media. After looking on the USA Today website you can see the views on YouTube and when the commercial aired during the game. The highest viewed and rated commercial was the Jeep ad with Bill Murray. This had 43 million views just on YouTube. (https://admeter.usatoday.com/commercials/groundhog-day/)
Another big story of the night was Trump and Bloomberg both spending ten million dollars on airtime. Both men are prepped to run in the 2020 Presidential Election, so it was no surprise to see this. If you have the money, it’s a good idea to try and reach this many people at once. “The dueling ads on the year’s biggest night of television are evidence that the two New York billionaires are preparing for a schoolyard brawl on the national airwaves over the coming months…” (https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/5df1cdd432f98/4097595?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27Bloomberg%2520and%2520Trump%2520Buy%2520Super%2520Bowl%2520Ads%2520at%2520%252410%2520Million%2520Each%25281%2529.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20200204T162713Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAZH6WM4PLTYPZRQMY%2F20200204%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=e60d6b407a50f2568c9ecd024e57195c56d323dd5cf55da14ed66b1c3cff8173)

Works Cited:
https://admeter.usatoday.com/

https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/5df1cdd432f98/4097595?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27Bloomberg%2520and%2520Trump%2520Buy%2520Super%2520Bowl%2520Ads%2520at%2520%252410%2520Million%2520Each%25281%2529.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20200204T162713Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAZH6WM4PLTYPZRQMY%2F20200204%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=e60d6b407a50f2568c9ecd024e57195c56d323dd5cf55da14ed66b1c3cff8173

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Brett DiSalvoFebruary 4, 2020 at 11:57 AM
Brett DiSalvo

Overall, this year’s super bowl in my opinion was a monster success. The game itself was pretty awesome. Although it was two teams that I personally have no interest in, the game lived up to the hype. It was competitive the whole game with a sensational fourth quarter comeback by the Chief’s quarterback, Partrick Mahomes. As far as the other aspects of the super bowl, it was even more of a success. The commercials were engaging and funny at times. The halftime show was the best one that I have seen in years. Jennifer Lopez and Shakira brought their superstar power and absolutely killed that performance in my opinion. I think that all in all, that was some of the best television I have watched in a very long time.
When I think about the changing media environment we are faced with as well the influence of the super bowl in media, I only think it is gaining traction. In terms of a showcase for advertisers, performers, and the NFL, I think that it only getting bigger. Is seems to me as if each year, the super bowl gets more and more influential. For something that started a long time ago as just a football game, it has become almost like a national holiday. Whether you are interested in football or not, it seems that everyone watches the super bowl for a thousand different reasons. I think the NFL does a great job of attracting a large audience. According to Rick Porter from The Hollywood Reporter, the super bowl is here to stay and so is the influence it has. In the article, he breaks down the specifics of just how big the super bowl’s influence has become since the start of the NFL. For example, he says, “Nielsen's share measures the number of homes watching TV at a given time and tuned into a specific broadcast. The Super Bowl has averaged a 66 share over its history — meaning that on the average Super Bowl Sunday, it captures two thirds of the audience watching TV.” This is a big time majority that does not happen for just any show or event. In another article by USA Today, the super bowl’s media influence is shown yet again. According to the 2020 ad meter results, the Jeep groundhog commercial received over 100 million viewers at the time, and has since gained over 40 million views on YouTube. This shows the magnitude of the super bowl to me. The reason for this is because it is just a football game at the end of the day but the fact that it can bring in that kind of attention for an ad, shows just how much influence it has on media trends.
Super bowl LIV was truly the pinnacle of media influence as far as I’m concerned From the ads, halftime show, and game, it was hours of phenomenal TV that kept my attention for the entire time. The super bowl time and time again is one of the biggest and most watched events of the year. In an article posted by CNN, the magnitude of this is emphasized yet again by saying, “The Super Bowl is the most-watched program on television every year. It also draws big crowds at viewing parties, bars and restaurants. Nielsen doesn't count those watching outside of the home, so the actual audience size is likely bigger than what the numbers portray.” With this is mind, to me, there is no denying the massive impact that the super bowl has on media trends.

Pallotta, Frank. “Super Bowl LIV Averaged 102 Million Viewers.” CNN, Cable News Network, 3 Feb. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/02/03/media/super-bowl-2020-ratings/index.html.
Suter, Rick, and Nate Scott. “2020 Ad Meter Results.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 2020, admeter.usatoday.com/.

Porter, Rick. “TV Long View: The Super Bowl Has Never Not Been Huge.” The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Feb. 2020, www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/super-bowl-tv-ratings-history-been-huge-
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UnknownFebruary 4, 2020 at 11:58 AM
John McMahon

Blog 2

This year’s Super Bowl followed suit to many of its predecessors before it. The game itself was fantastic, having a young, yet experienced quarterback like Patrick Mahomes pitted against Jimmy Garoppolo who wanted to get a ring for himself after sitting in the shadow of Tom Brady for a few years on the Patriots. The game aside the ads for this year’s Super Bowl were lackluster compared to years past. More notable commercials this year included a Bill Murray “Groundhog’s Day” recreation where the famed comedian played his character from the movie waking up in the same day over and over again. This time however, he gets to do something different: Drive a brand-new Jeep Gladiator. The commercial was great in timing (as the Super Bowl took place on Groundhog’s day) but may have been lost on some younger viewers who have not seen the original film. Still, I was not the only one who shared the same sentiment for the Bill Murray commercial: According to USA Today’s Ad Tracker, the Jeep commercial was the most successful of the lot, with a 7.01 rating and 43 million views on YouTube since airing (Suter & Scott, 1). The halftime show brought the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, two international pop stars, onto the same stage. Rapper Bad Bunny also joined them on stage as well.

Despite an ever-changing media environment, I still believe that the Super Bowl is as influential as years past. This year’s Super Bowl boasted 102 million viewers, up from last year with 100.7 million viewers (Herbert, 1). Although Super Bowl viewership and ratings have declined in recent years, the allure surrounding the game still exists. People see the Super Bowl as an event: Eating good food, drinking and enjoying the game with friends and family. The Super Bowl is successful in getting people who do not ordinarily watch football on a regular basis to watch the game for whatever reason (the ads, the halftime show, etc). This in turn makes them consume media (Super Bowl ads) that they otherwise wouldn’t see. Super Bowl ads still have the power to be memorable and funny, thus explaining the hefty price tag that advertisers paying to air them during the big game. Overall, the Super Bowl, despite some declining popularity, isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Works Cited
Herbert, Geoff. “How Many People Watched the Super Bowl? 2020 Ratings up from Last Year.” Syracuse, 3 Feb. 2020, www.syracuse.com/sports/2020/02/2020-super-bowl-ratings-102-million-viewers-up-from-last-year.html.
Suter, Rick, and Nate Scott. “2020 Ad Meter Results.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, admeter.usatoday.com/.

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Media Trends 2 pm S20

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Audience Metrics & Advertising - Blog 2, Question 1 (Feb. 4th)

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