Of the 20 most watched television events (on a single network) in the history of American television, all but two have been Super Bowls. Increasingly, people are tuning in not for the football, but for the commercials. Each year the largest companies in the U.S. vie for commercial time with enormous budgets, attempting to have the most bombastic and memorable ads. Those who succeed are discussed in our media for weeks and tend to garner a great deal of successful business.
This week we focus on some of the more interesting examples of Super Bowl LIII commercials—ones that stood out for various reasons.
Instructors, click on the link below to download this week’s lecture for use in your classroom. The deck contains a writing prompt, a debate question, as well as other assessment questions.
Download the PowerPoint Lecture Spark for Super Bowl 2019: Commercial Buzz
Video
Serena Williams in an ad for online dating service, Bumble.
Harrison Ford and Forest Whitaker feature in an ad for Amazon.
Articles
- Vegans are beefing with Hyundai over a Super Bowl ad that made fun of vegan dinner parties
- ‘I Would Run It Again.’ Mint Mobile Explains Its ‘Chunky-Style Milk’ Super Bowl Commercial Tactics
- Super Bowl commercials take on female empowerment
- The Super Bowl commercials were really bad this year, huh?
Assessment
Writing: Do you think that big media organizations are better at instigating social change than political organizations are?
Debate: What was the best Super Bowl ad of this year and why?
Poll: What part of the Super Bowl this year left the most lasting impact on you?
- The game
- The halftime show
- The commercials
Short Answer: How would you make a Super Bowl ad that is interesting, but also addresses social or other issues of the world today?
Current Events Quiz
A Hyundai ad this year involved a joke about which group?
- Dog owners
- Republicans
- Vegans
- Democrats
One ad became particularly notorious for disgusting viewers with ____.
- Chunky milk
- President Trump’s Syria policy
- Peanut’s legs
- ASMR in a beer ad
Tennis star____ explored empowerment in an ad for ____.
- Maria Sharapova, Tinder
- Roger Federer, Tinder
- Rafael Nadal, Grindr
- Serena Williams, Bumble
According to an advertising executive, women in current and future Super Bowl ads ought to be shown in a more ____ light.
- Thoughtful
- Powerful
- Intelligent
- Sexy
According to Vox, the Super Bowl ads this year felt like a pop culture ____.
- Mashup
- Triumph
- Parody
- Failure
Feature photo credit: iStock.com/franckreporter