by By Matt Ritchey
Yesterday was one of the biggest days in American sports, Superbowl LVIII. With the Superbowl comes the advertisements during the game. As is tradition, many companies pay large sums of money for a place in history and step up their game for the big game. While some hit and some miss, let’s talk about some of the best, worst, and most controversial Super Bowl LVIII advertisements and how social media reacted.
I think it’s fair to say that some advertisements scored this year. Some of the best ones were Dunkin’s’ ad with all of Boston’s boys like Tom Brady and Ben Affleck trying to impress Jennifer Lawrence. Many successful ads featured prominent TV personnel and inside jokes like Mountain Dew’s Parks and Rec jokes and Uber Eats featuring Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer (AKA Ross and Rachel). Social media has crowned CeraVe and Michael Cera’s ad as the best Superbowl ad this year. Full of comedy, and of course the name, this ad was hard not to laugh at. Unfortunately, some other ads weren’t so popular.
Many people online have agreed that the worst Superbowl ad this year was from Temu. Not because the ad was genuinely bad but mainly because of how many times it aired during the broadcast. Filled with too much orange and mediocre sales, this ad missed the mark. Another ad that was dubbed as the worst was from, He Gets Us. These religious-themed ads had good intentions, but unfortunately showing people washing feet was ridiculed online and has become a meme about foot fetishes. Even though these ads were pretty bad, one set of ads in particular has caused massive debates and controversy online.
One of the most controversial ads run during the Superbowl was an ad about fathers who have been held hostage by Hamas for 136 days. The ad ended with the hashtag, #bringalldadshome. The ad was aimed at the millions of dads that watch the Superbowl, but also to raise more awareness from U.S. citizens about the ongoing situation with Israel’s war in Gaza. The ad was funded by the State of Israel as part of their campaign to push their narrative for the war in Gaza which has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians. The National Public Diplomacy Directorate was responsible for creating and pushing the campaign. While many people on social media showed their support for the Israeli hostages, many others were not happy. They are offended that an ad sponsored by Israel is running during the biggest game in America.
Unfortunately, during the airing of the ad, Israel was bombing a town called Rafah to free two Israeli citizens. The bombs killed 100 citizens in the process according to a report from Israeli officials.
Social media has been up in arms over the recent news and many people online are “disgusted” and “sickened” that the NFL would allow this ad to run. What was even worse was that the bombing happened right around the time the ads were running, and many people have claimed this was a deliberate plan from the Israeli government.
While some ads were truly phenomenal this year, it is hard to ignore the ads funded by the State of Israel and why the NFL allowed them to be aired. Social media has been buzzing constantly since the events of last evening and will continue into the near future.
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Hi Matt!! I really loved reading your blog about the superbowl ads. I thought this year was very different than previous year and seemed a little more political as well. There is so much money that goes into these ads it’s interesting to see what campaigns go on.
Hi Matt!
I enjoyed reading your blog post about the SuperBowl ads. Watching the ads is one of my favorite parts about SuperBowl Sunday. I agree with others that Temu commercials were a bit annoying due to how many times it was aired and the quality of it. But of course there were some great ones that I enjoyed watching like the CeraVe commercial or the Nerd Clusters one. It’s crazy to think how much these ad placements are.
Matt, you’ve provided a comprehensive overview of the Super Bowl LVIII advertisements and the varied reactions they elicited on social media. While some ads, like Dunkin’s and CeraVe’s, were well-received for their humor and star power, others, such as Temu and He Gets Us, fell short in capturing audience attention. The controversy surrounding the ad sponsored by the State of Israel, highlighting fathers held hostage by Hamas, has sparked significant debate, especially given the timing of Israel’s military actions.