And just like that, the nail-biting Super Bowl LVIII is in the books. Alongside the dramatic ending, viewers were delivered an eclectic batch of ads that ranged from laugh-out-loud funny to downright cringey and sprinkled with plenty of celebrity cameos. But which ads connected with social audiences most?
As part of MarketCast’s annual Super Bowl Ad Resonance report, our Social Researchers tap into the online conversation to identify which Super Bowl LVIII ads drove the most buzz for better or worse.
Here is a preview of our top winners and fumbles of the night. Stay tuned tomorrow for a preview of the MarketCast Top Breakthrough Super Bowl Ads.
Beyonce (& Verizon) successfully broke the internet
Verizon’s ad featuring Queen Bea making varied attempts to “break Verizon” generated 154K mentions in 12 hours, dominating nearly 15% of all ad conversation on social media during the Big Game.
The Verizon ad also sparked widespread conversation, with 94% of buzz coming from unique users (compared to the <60% Super Bowl average), meaning this ad extended far beyond the BeyHive. It also consisted of the most diverse audience conversation – chatter from self-identified Black and LGBTQ+ audiences was higher than all other ads.
Nearly 60% of Verizon’s social media conversations came from photo, video, and gif shares, as the BeyHive immediately got to work creating social assets during the Game, indicating strong fandom whenever media is accompanied by social mentions.
Dunkin’ scores for the second year in a row
Ben Affleck has fully embraced becoming the King of Dunkin’, and this time, he brought some friends with him (e.g., JLo, Matt Damon, and Tom Brady, to name a few). This star-studded collab is a great example of talent working together in an authentic way (all tying back to Affleck) and resonating with all ages. Social audiences hailed the ad as the “winner” of the night generating more online conversation than any other ad during the game.
The spot also authentically spoke to the people of Boston, where they take their Dunkin’ very seriously. The social buzz from the Boston area dominated, outpacing all other US metros and was the only ad to do so. Some even petitioned for Dunkin’ to sell the merch Ben and team were wearing, prompting Dunkin’ to list the apparel online this morning.
Temu won on volume but was challenged with messaging
With its catchy tune, online retailer Temu’s multiple ads generated a combined 93K social mentions (nearly 10% of Super Bowl ad SOV). However, the buzz generated was lukewarm, as brands with multiple ads during the game (like Temu) were often met with audience fatigue. We will be curious to see how Temu performs with our Brand Effect diagnostics, which includes Recall, Breakthrough, and Likeability (stay tuned).
Religious-themed ad suffers backlash from all sides
He Gets Us aired a Super Bowl ad for the second year in a row and generated 94% negative reactions on social media – making it the most negatively received Super Bowl ad this year. Interestingly, it wasn’t just left-leaning liberals or atheists speaking out. The ad was met with social backlash from every corner of culture and politics, from self-identified Liberals and Progressives to Faith-Based Conservatives.
Mainstream audiences also questioned if Jesus would have spent millions of dollars on a Super Bowl ad. God only knows.
Stay tuned! We have more insights on the way tomorrow as we reveal the top three ads across all networks (including CBS, Nickelodeon, and TelevisaUnivision) using our industry-trusted ad measurement solution, Brand Effect, which uses real-world, natural ad exposure to measure breakthrough and resonance.