AFFIRM’s Top Super Bowl Ads of 2022
When it comes to watching the big game each year, we come for the game and stay for the advertisements! According to The Sporting News, a 30 second spot during Super Bowl LVI cost around $6,500,000, which was $1,000,000 more than last year. This showed in the advertisements that ran, and same as years past, there was no shortage of celebrity cameos, cutting edge graphics/animation, and innovative ideas we’ve never seen before. Without further ado, here are our top picks from this year’s Super Bowl ads!
Coinbase: Win $3 Million – Bitcoin
One of the simplest ads to run this year from Coinbase may be the ad that made the biggest impact on viewers. The 60 second spot featured a color changing QR code bouncing around the screen in 90’s screensaver fashion, requiring users to scan the code with their phones to be taken to the sign-up page for Bitcoin and an incentive, “Win $3 million in prizes!” Cryptocurrency is becoming more and more popular, but it is still in the early stages of adoption. Running a disruptive, unconventional ad like this was a genius way to get viewers curious enough about crypto to opt in, and interest in the ad was so high that it led to Coinbase’s site crashing as viewers clamored to learn more – We think that says it all.
Watch the full Coinbase: Win $3 Million – Bitcoin spot here.
Toyota – Start Your Impossible
This spot from Toyota pulled at the heart strings with the story of Canadian brothers Brian and Robert McKeever who became teammates in the Paralympic Games and accomplished the feat of winning 10 gold medals in cross country skiing. Brian McKeever suffers from stargardt macular degeneration, an eye disease with no cure, and the spot itself features POV shots from Brian’s to put viewers in his shoes and show how his vision is gradually deteriorating. Pulling at viewer’s empathetic side with the POV shots and build up, and then revealing how the brothers overcame the disease to become champions at the end was emotionally compelling, thus likely to help improve positive sentiment around the brand.
Watch the full Toyota: Start Your Impossible spot here.
Chevrolet: The First-Ever All-Electric Chevy Silverado – New Generation (The Sopranos)
Rebooting a classic introduction sequence from one of the most popular HBO shows of all time is the direction Chevrolet decided to take for their Super Bowl ad. Chevrolet paid attention to the details with their recreation “The Sopranos” introduction and included many of the shots from the original show. As Don Draper once said, “Nostalgia – It’s delicate, but potent,” and that was the exact idea that powered Chevy’s spot this year. We enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane while watching this one and agree that the ad was indeed potent and effective.
Watch the full The First-Ever All-Electric Chevy Silverado – New Generation (The Sopranos) spot here
E*TRADE: Baby “Off the Grid”
The financial advice-toting E*Trade babies are back! This short 30 second spot featured the E*Trade baby going off the grid and coming back to save younger generations with financial advice they’ve been deprived of in his absence. The result is a fun ad that calls back to the golden era of E*Trade’s advertising, and includes cute babies to make viewers laugh. We felt the humorous and nostalgic concept of the ad hit the mark.
Watch the full E*TRADE: Baby “Off the Grid” spot here
Meta Quest: Old Friends. New Fun
Opening with the classic song “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by the Simple Minds, Meta Quest’s ad focuses on the story of “Questy’s” animatronic dog after the closure of the fictional restaurant he came from. Showing the hard times that the dog goes through during the ad creates an emotional appeal to draw viewers in, and then resolves this when the dog and his friends triumphantly return to “Questy’s” in the Metaverse at the end of the spot. We liked the dystopian theme of this ad and thought that Meta Quest was able to do a good job of breaking through the noise with an ad that was unconventionally wacky and interesting.
Watch the full Old Friends. New Fun spot here
Marvel Studios: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Madness
Marvel fans everywhere rejoiced at the action-packed new promo for the upcoming movie, “Docot Strange in the Multiverse Madness.” Coming off the sixth-highest grossing movie in history, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” Marvel fans knew to expect a promo for the next Dr. Strange movie during the Super Bowl. This condensed trailer is every bit as exciting as fans would have expected and includes a call-to-action at the end to watch the full trailer online, something we felt was a nice touch.
Watch the full Marvel Studios: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Madness here
