QLFR AM: Super Bowl Hangover

Good morning friends,

It seemed as though more of my international timeline on Twitter was watching the Super Bowl than in previous years. I’m not going to call it the Drive to Survive spillover effect, but I want to document that just in case it catches on.

Speaking of F1, the thought occurred to me that it would be a hell of an idea if a Formula 1 team were to launch a car during a Super Bowl ad spot. Give us 60 seconds followed up by an immediate live stream show on teams’ social media and websites. For example, Oracle could have paid for the ad spot without a problem to launch the new Oracle Red Bull Racing team. Or Qualcomm could do the same with their Ferrari partnership if they someday expand that to become a title sponsor. I mean, Netflix could have taken out an ad showing off all the cars in a 30-second spot. Oh, the possibilities.

For those that watched the final game of the NFL season, it provided us with a mildly entertaining game, some good adverts and what I think is the second-best halftime show behind Prince performing Purple Rain in a downpour in heels.

Back to the actual point of why I posted this — commercials.

Last night we saw dozens of commercials that cost millions and millions of dollars for brands to either be talked about forever or forgotten.

If you follow me over on Twitter, here’s the thread with all my thoughts at the moment. Zero hardcore analysis.

For me, there was a clear winner due to the sheer chutzpah it takes to come up with that, spend $13 million for the ad space and then run it.

Yes, I’m talking about Coinbase.

For a full 60 seconds, this QR code bounced around the screen in flashbacks of a Windows 95 screensaver.

The QR code took you to a landing page encouraging you to sign up and get $15 in free Bitcoin plus a chance to win $3 million in prizes. Overall, solid call to action across the board.

The efficacy of the Coinbase ad only increased with every additional second on screen.

Initially, I wasn’t going to scan. But the longer it stayed on, the more intrigued I became. I know many others that said the same.

The site got throttled for a short time, to be expected.

I don’t think there’s any amount of money you can place on the organic chatter that will happen tonight and tomorrow with any Super Bowl ad, therefore, I still believe the ad spots are undervalued.

Because you literally can’t calculate all the benefits of a great ad.

And then brands started copying it immediately.

I can just see it now in boardrooms across America:

Bravo Coinbase for taking a chance and doing something different.

Honorable mentions

I loved this from McDonalds. It’s so relatable.

This one from Verizon with Jim Carrey reprising his role as The Cable Guy was good. It was funny, and kept me engaged for the entire time it was on screen.

Plenty of other commercials to talk about, let me know, leave a comment below.

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