Who won the Social Media Bowl 2015?
The New England Patriots faced the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl: A few weeks ago, the biggest American sports event of the year took place for the 49th time. Like every year, the 2015 Super Bowl drew over 100 million viewers worldwide (and, as I do every year, I stayed up all night to watch it). After all, what the Champions League final is to us Europeans, the Super Bowl final is to Americans.
But it's not just the game that is eagerly awaited, but also the commercials during the breaks. A 30-second spot costs a whopping 4.5 million dollars. Big companies like Mercedes Benz, Snickers and Victoria's Secret are happy to pay for this, hiring superstars by the dozen and outdoing each other with funny and creative spots. From cute cat videos to running Pac-Man, this year's edition again featured pretty much everything. Yes, the financial spend on the Superbowl is big. The Internet, however, is known to be even bigger. That's where millions of people discussed this year's most innovative, amazing and worst Superbowl commercials in advance. Nowadays, companies are increasingly integrating social media into their advertising and communication strategies. The commercials at the Superbowl didn't miss this either. I'm therefore much more interested in which brands managed to incorporate social media into their advertising to achieve a viral hit online.
Hot for men
Let's start with the Victoria's Secret angels, who have been there every time since 2008: Candice Swanepoel, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, and whatever their names may be, showed up in salacious lingerie at locations in all corners of the world while Brenda Lee sings "I'm in the Mood for Love." This commercial, of course, warmed men's hearts in a flash and gave them ideas for the next Valentine's Day gift. The clip was also hotly discussed on Twitter, but not only by men.
The Internet world can be bleak and sad, but it can also be fun and joyful. This was demonstrated by the Coca-Cola commercial: a technician spills a bottle of Coca-Cola in a data center - the liquid not only spreads across the servers, but sends a happy message to all online users. The dreary scenes transform and draw a smile on everyone's face. The commercial ended with the claim: "The world is what we make it." A clear answer to cyberbullying and nasty online comments. Within seconds, the hashtag #MakeItHappy spread across the web and clearly in a positive way. "I join Coca- Cola in being against internet hate." Or: "So much negativity on Twitter, it doesn't have to be - thank you Coca-Cola!". Coca-Cola is thus sending a clear signal against hate and anger on the Internet and giving users a lasting impetus to turn the Internet back into a positive medium.
But one spot in particular was discussed: The depressing advertising clip of the insurance company Nationwide caused fierce criticism on the net. A boy is shown telling what he will miss out on in life because he will die prematurely. At the end, it is pointed out how many children die in accidents at home. This sad message did not seem to please the online community at all. Under the ad's official hashtag #MakeSafeHappen, users complained, "How depressing is this? Doesn't fit at all!".
What do we conclude from this? Above all, the Superbowl commercials have to be funny and real, otherwise the network will show no mercy.
Manuel P. Nappo, Director of Studies CAS Social Media Management HWZ (Zurich School of Business). www.fh-hwz.ch/smm
