The Super Bowl is a blue-chip advertising occasion that reaches millions of viewers. Interest in spots that run during the big game is usually very high -- as is the price tag for brands, with 30 seconds of airtime priced at between $7m and $8m. As such, it is imperative that advertisers make the most of their outlay by making a real impact with their creative.
Humour, always a useful tool for advertisers, is in decline despite overwhelming evidence that funny ads are far more efficient. For brands, it’s a creative strategy that becomes very useful when the news cycle is at its most intense – tapping into humour can help brands get past “compassion fatigue”, and make audiences laugh instead.
Good vibes rule
Based on a sample of 42 Super Bowl ads that have already been released, and which are due to be shown during the Super Bowl on February 9th, 2025, DAIVID’s AI testing – which spans attention, emotions and memory – found:
Humor was the top emotion registered among 33 of the spots that were tested.
- “Kiss From a Lime”, where musician Seal playfully reworks one of his biggest hits for Mountain Dew, posted the highest humor scores, and was 72% funnier than the US average.
- It still fell short of last year’s funniest Super Bowl ad, Paramount+’s “Paramount Mountain”, which was 84% funnier than the US norm.
- Alongside generating a strong positive response from 51.2% of viewers, shots of the lime-flavored Baja Blast bottles in “Kiss From a Lime” attracted feelings of craving that were 128% above the norm.
The NFL scores a winner
- “Somebody | It Takes All of Us,” an ad from the NFL which shows players offering mentorship to children, generated the most intense positive emotions of the tested spots.
- A 55.8% majority of viewers had an intense emotional reaction to the ad, with feelings of “warmth” being 73% higher than the US average.
- It also beat averages for pride (+69%), inspiration (+68%) and attention (which was 9% higher than the average in the first three seconds and 13% for the last three seconds).
The NFL spot also secured the highest overall effectiveness rating in DAIVID’s sample, just ahead of ads from Michelob ULTRA and Reese’s.
Effectiveness leaders
- The NFL spot also secured the highest overall effectiveness rating in DAIVID’s sample.
- It came in ahead of “Goldilocks and the Three Trucks”, a playful and rugged fairytale remix from Ram Trucks.
- Third spot on this metric was shared by Michelob ULTRA, with an ad championing friendly competition using a mix of athletes and celebrities, and “Don’t Eat Lava”, a light-hearted spin on a public service announcement from candy brand Reese’s.
Source: warc.com; Sourced from DAIVID, WARC. Image: AB InBev
