Winners: Bud Light & HBO
HBO's unexpected takeover of Bud Light's "Jousting Match" ad to promote the upcoming season of Game of Thrones had everyone talking.
The ad, which cost an estimated $9.4 million, according to iSpot.tv, amassed more than 183 million social impressions.
The ad (and its dragons) may have set social media ablaze, but it didn't do much for Bud Light as a brand, according to ad agency Oxford Road. It scored a low 29.65% on its Audiolytics ranking.
The Bud Light campaign was also popular among advertising professionals on the work chat app Fishbowl, representing 23% of all Super Bowl campaign discussions on the platform. The campaign with HBO was also ranked #1 on a poll on the app, capturing 30% of the votes.
But Bud Light had three other commercials, which touted how it doesn't use corn syrup — disppointing corn farmers across the country, according to Brandwatch.
Winner: PepsiCo
The ad for its flagship product featured Lil Jon, Steve Carell, and Cardi B and managed to push Pepsi into the conversation, with nearly 18,000 mentions, according to Salesforce.
In fact, Pepsi's #PepsiMoreThanOK hashtag registered more than 65.2 million impressions, according to Brandwatch.
Pepsi's ad for its new sparkling water brand Bubly also did well, with Oxford Road giving it a score of 61%. The agency uses a proprietary data-driven process called Audiolytics that grades ads based on 71 weighted components, giving each commercial a unique score.
With Canadian singer Michael Bublé starrin in the Bubly ad, the ad was also the best use of celebrity and the best new-to-market brand, per Oxford Road.
Winner: Amazon
Amazon Alexa's fun self-deprecating jab at itself "Not Everything Makes the Cut" also won over audiences, scoring 7.34 on USA Today’s 2019 Ad Meter and securing the #2 spot.
Winner: Skittles
Skittles ditched the $5.25 million Super Bowl ad price tag and went all out with a one-day musical in New York City featuring actor Michael C. Hall.
While only close to 1,500 people watched it, the quality was top-notch. Plus, the proceeds went to charity.
Winner: Microsoft XBox
Microsoft Xbox's inclusive ad "We All Win" was one of the few ads this year that championed diversity and won over hearts and Twitter feeds everywhere.
It scored a 7.07 on USA Today’s 2019 Ad Meter, ranking #3. It was also ranked the most inspiring ad by Oxford Road.
Loser: Kia
Kia may have had good intentions honoring the workers of its West Point, Georgia, plant who build its cars, but its "Give It Everything" commercial came across as preachy.
Kia was also ranked by Oxford Road as having the lowest score on its ranking — a mere 19.51%.
"For once, just once, could an auto manufacturer please stop just talking in generic platitudes and substantiate one claim?," said Oxford Road's Granger. "It sounds like this poor young man was asked to read a script saying the car is made of, for, and by hopeless people."
Loser: Hyundai
Hyundai took people up an elevator highlighting unpleasant experiences on each floor, like a root canal and the middle seat on a plane. The ultimate pitch: A guaranteed better car-shopping experience with its Shoppers Assurance.
But the car brand faced the wrath of vegans when it poked fun at a vegan dinner party.
Loser: Michelob Ultra Pure Gold
The Anheuser Busch-owned brand ran a 45-second ad that tried to take advantage of a sensation called autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) that has become a big trend on YouTube.
But according to data from Brandwatch, 54.21% of the tweets about the ad were negative.
Loser: T-Mobile
T-Mobile had an ad in every quarter, and they were not all bad — in fact, one of the ads called "Dad," that poked fun at parents getting confused by technology scored highest by Oxford Road with score of 94%.
But the brand was criticized for being sexist in some of its other ads.
It also had the most mentions with a negative sentiment on Fishbowl. T-Mobile was popular among the creative community for its low-budget, yet effective ad campaign, until people began noticing its creative was directly inspired by popular memes on the internet.
"Damn it, thought it was good but now I’m feeling like I just got Fuck Jerry’ed again," said an anonymous strategy director, while another SVP said: "T-Mobile is the Fuckjerry of the Super Bowl. Stealing from bad text memes."
