Super Bowl LII was held right in my backyard (proud resident of the Bold North here!) so while I’m not an avid football fan, I followed the events closely this year. Having the game at U.S. Bank stadium filled me with a little Minnesota pride. But other than that – and Justin Timberlake’s halftime show – I went to the Super Bowl party for my mother-in-law’s chili and the commercials.
Super Bowl LII registered 103.4 million viewers. It’s no surprise that the most widely watched sporting event of the year consistently produces some of the most entertaining commercials. Here’s a look at two studies focused on this year’s commercials, conducted by Ipsos and Jumpstart Automotive Media, a division of Hearst Autos.
Ipsos tested all of the commercials during Super Bowl LII in real-time with ranking based on System 1 reactions, according to a recent press release. Ipsos recruited 45 football fans split between the Eagles and Patriots to watch the game in a theater in New York City. Each participant wore biometric sensors that measured their emotional arousal based on galvanic skin response. Tide beat out spots from the NFL at No. 2 and M&Ms at No. 3 rankings on Ipsos Super Scores.
According to Elissa Moses, CEO, Ipsos Neuro and Behavioral Science Center, the four key drivers of great ads are:
Tide ran a different spot in each quarter. The ads, produced by Saatchi & Saatchi New York for packaged goods giant Procter & Gamble, were humorous nods to other brands and commercials but focused on the clean clothing the characters were wearing. Tide’s third quarter ad featuring sibling brand Mr. Clean being replaced by Tide stand-in David Harbour, was the highest-scoring spot of the more than 75 ads tested, according to Ipsos.
Shaun Dix, executive vice president of Ipsos Connect said, "The first 45-second spot scored lowest but once the audience got the joke, it set up the success of the other three spots...