While most of the world has long since moved on, YouTube has finally announced the winners of its 2014 Ad Blitz, ranking users’ favorite Super Bowl commercials.
It’ no surprise, but Budweiser’s “Puppy Love” took the top spot. It’s currently up to over 47 million views.
Coca Cola’s “America the Beautiful” commercial took second place. That one has over 10 million views.
Chrysler’s “America’s Import” took third place (over 11 million views).
Durcell’s “Trust Your Power” took fourth (22 million views):
Jaguar’s “British Villains’ Rendezvous” rounded out the top five (11 million views):
“Not only did these spots receive the most votes on YouTube, but they also attracted more than 101 million views combined,” says Kariyushi Casper, Ad Blitz Interactive Project Manager.
The list is a bit different than USA Today’s, but everyone seems to love “Puppy Love”.
In what’s becoming a popular move, companies are releasing Super Bowl ads before the big game on Sunday in an effort to generate internet buzz. It’s not a bad decision considering the cost of a 30-second ad this year is at the $4 million mark. Chevrolet released its Sunday-bound ad on Wednesday and because of their marketing strategy, Chevrolet Silverado is currently trending on Yahoo.
The ad is called Romance. The commercial centers upon an old-fashioned cowboy towing a bull in a large trailer, highlighting the power of his rugged Chevrolet Silverado HD pickup truck. However, it’s not just another western. Instead, it’s more of a love story. Well, maybe not quite a love story. A stud story? Cue the mood background music, You Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate, and it becomes quite obvious what the cowboy has in store for the bull.
A man, his truck and a very eligible bachelor. It all leads to romance for the bull and the group of lady cows waiting with bated breath and licking-lips for their stud.
Big time companies like GoDaddy and Budweiser are also of the opinion that it’s best to release Super Bowl ads days if not weeks before the game. The Super Bowl attracts over 100 million viewers worldwide, many of whom are more interested in the funny and expensive commercials, rather than what Peyton Manning is doing on the field.
Speaking of the big game. The high-powered Denver Bronco offense will face off against the defensively-built Seattle Seahawks for Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2nd in New Jersey. Vegas odds makers are predicting the contest will be a close one. The current line has the Broncos favored by only 1.5 points. And if the game turns out to be a blowout, at least fair weather football fans will have the commercials to look forward to.
Judging from Budweiser’s new “Puppy Love” ad, the people who watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials won’t be disappointed this year. Budweiser released a commercial today that they plan to air during the Super Bowl, and yet again, the beer company has a hit. “Puppy Love” already has more than 5 million hits since being posted to YouTube.
Fans of the Budweiser Clydesdale horses will be happy to see that they are back in “Puppy Love.” The horses aren’t providing laughs by kicking footballs this time, though. Instead, the commercial shows the friendship between an adorable lab pup and the horses that will pull at your heartstrings.
The commercial shows a cute white lab pup that keeps escaping from an animal shelter. Every time he leaves, he heads to the same place–the horse barn. On one attempt at taking the pup back to the shelter, the horses jump the fence and box in the car the puppy is riding in. Who knows what went on right after the horses threw down the gauntlet, but in the next shot, we see the pup triumphantly heading back towards the barn, with the Clydesdale horses right behind.
“Let Her Go” by Passenger serves as the Budweiser commercial’s background music. Check out “Puppy Love” below.
You might be wondering what, exactly, a cute puppy and horses have to do with beer, but since when does that matter? Just look back to one of Budweiser’s Super Bowl commercials from last year (one that probably tugged on the heartstrings more than “Puppy Love” will). This commercial shows a newborn foal and the friendship that he develops with his trainer.
Using animals without a beer in sight in a beer commercial might not make a lot of sense on the surface, but there is certainly a method to Budweiser’s madness. Not only did Budweiser pull off another wildly successful commercial, they also had people talking about it for weeks by encouraging them to suggest names for the foal through social media. Anheuser-Busch said that they received more than 60,000 suggestions via Facebook and Twitter.
Check out Budweiser’s Clydesdale Super Bowl commercial from last year below.
Budweiser is looking to celebrate its iconic logo with a new can design this Spring. The Anheuser-Busch brand will unveil a new bowtie-shaped can on May 6th.
The can, will be a few drop short of the full 12-ounce can you’re used to – clocking in at 11.3 ounces. With the fewer ounces of beer comes fewer calories per can – 8.5 fewer to be exact.
“This can is certainly a conversation starter: eye-catching, easy-to-grip, trendy and – according to our research – very appealing to young adults,” Budweiser innovation head Pat McGauley said. “It’s a beer can like no other.”
“This can is incomparable, like nothing you’ve ever seen before,” said Pat McGauley, vice president of innovation for Anheuser-Busch. “The world’s most iconic beer brand deserves the world’s most unique and innovative can. I think we have it here.”
The cans will come in 8-packs.
Of course, the bowtie can resembles the long-time Budweiser logo, and that was the goal.
“Though there is no written documentation on the origins of the Budweiser bowtie, it is a brand icon found the world over. According to company lore, the bowtie was introduced when too many people were using the “Bud” bar call too frequently, so the double triangles were added to emphasize the full Budweiser name,” says Budweiser.
Actually, the real title is Creative Director, as Anheuser-Busch has appointed him as such for its Bud Light Platinum brand. Timberlake will provide “creative, musical and cultural curation” for the brand.
Here’s what Timberlake had to say about it: “Bud Light Platinum brings a refined, discerning aesthetic to beer that plays well with what I’m doing. I’m looking forward to not only being a part of the creative process, but in bringing other talented musicians to the forefront as well.”
“Justin Timberlake is one of the greatest creative minds in the entertainment industry, and his insights will help us further define Bud Light Platinum’s identity in the lifestyle space,” said Paul Chibe, vice president of U.S. marketing, Anheuser-Busch. “Since launching Bud Light Platinum last year, we’ve worked to align the brand closely with music, including leveraging tracks by Kanye West and Avicii in our first ads. Partnering with Justin as he makes his return to music brings a new level of relevance and credibility to the brand.”
The partnership was developed with ad agency, Translation. It begins with the Grammy Awards this Sunday with a sixty-second Bud Light Platinum ad, called “Platinum Night.” The spot will feature the above song.
Before the Super Bowl, many companies were eager for consumers to feast their eyes on the much-anticipated commercials set to debut during the game. Some literally couldn’t wait and “leaked” their commercials a few days early. This was likely done to generate some early buzz for products, but a new analysis reveals that the plan may have backfired for some of these companies.
YouGov BrandIndex, a firm that monitors such things, has maintained their studied eyes at how consumer interest has sustained for businesses that released their Super Bowl ads prior to the game and compared that data with businesses that kept their Super Bowl commercials under wraps until the game. The study looked at the ten days following the Super Bowl and gauged consumer interest in businesses from both of the groups.
The analysis found that companies like Honda and Acura, who released commercials a week ahead of the Super Bowl, saw a precipitous decline in consumer interest in the days after the Super Bowl. In fact, consumers appear to have gotten their fill of the two car companies’ commercials leading up to the Super Bowl because interest for both of them peaked during the game and then quickly disappeared afterwards. Among the top companies that were still generating interest after the Super Bowl based on their commercials, both Honda and Acura fell out of the Top 10 brands and bottomed out at 21 and 26, respectively.
Alternately, those companies that didn’t debut commercials until the Super Bowl enjoyed the greatest staying power in the mind of consumers. Doritos, Chevrolet, Bud Light, and Budweiser have maintained a high level of interest with consumers still weeks after the Super Bowl. In fact, Doritos probably did themselves a favor by rejecting that one advertisement that eventually went viral. Nothing like enjoying the best of both worlds.
Below is a table that YouGov put together with the data from their analysis. What say you, readers of the Internet? Of the companies listed in the table that have managed to keep the attention of consumers, any of those businesses’ commercial resonating with you? Let us know in the comments below.
This Budweiser ad, running during the Super Bowl, gives all of those a run for their money.
“Flash Fans” takes a simple premise and turns it into two minutes that might induce some man tears across our neighbor to the north. It begins with this explanation:
We told two Port Credit, Ontario teams we were shooting a documentary about rec league hockey.
We lied.
Throw in some shocked ordinary Joes, some spirited hockey camera work, and a kerfuffle reference and you’ve got an incredibly solid Super Bowl commercial. Check it out below:
One YouTube commenter sings its praises:
Every person that has ever had a dream of being an athlete, dancer, musician, etc. has dreamed of having an experience like this. These ordinary people had the opportunity to live their childhood dream for 1 night, and I guarantee they’ll never forget it… Phenomenal ad, great job Budweiser!
Although giving average people the change to experience something special is a practice that most everyone in the world can get behind, the ad will only be airing in Canada. I don’t know about the rest of America, but even as an American who isn’t that huge of a hockey fan I wouldn’t be upset to see this ad during a commercial break.
Budweiser, I probably won’t be drinking your beer during the game, but I must say, as far as advertising goes, you’re doing it right.
This folks, is what’s known as “The Genuine Article.” Yes, what you are looking at is, in fact, a Budweiser beer-themed USB drive capable of holding a six-pack’s worth 4 gigabytes worth of data.
As pointed out by Geek Alerts, the drive in question is conveniently called the “Budweiser USB Drive with Actual Beer,” at least by the blog pointing it out. The product page at epromos.com simply lists it as the “Liquid USB 2.0 Promotional USB Drive – Beer Floater – 4 GB,” which makes the unofficial description the winner by default.
Creativity goes a long way.
It should be noted, however, that the “Actual Beer” descriptor is something of a misnomer. Instead of containing a sample fresh from the “King of Beers,” the drive actually contains what’s described as:
…liquid filled promotional USB drive made to look like beer complete with tiny floating beer foam.
So yeah, no beer.
As one would expect, the jump drive works in the same manner as other USB flash drives do — you plug and chug … the files you want to carry around with you, that is. In the case of the Budweiser USB drive, however, chugging the contents, while inviting, is probably not the best course of action, at least until the “liquid” masquerading as beer has been identified.
Another point of potential contention is these devices are not available on an individual basis, at least not from epromos.com. In order to acquire one of these frosty drives, you have to order them in bulk. Currently, the Budweiser jump drives are available in quantities of 25, 50, 100, and 200. The site recommends calling if an order exceeds these numbers.
With all of this Budweiser talk, I felt the following trip down memory lane would be appropriate:
There aren’t many brands that are more “American” than Budweiser. It’s synonymous with with everything to do with modern American culture, especially in sports. With that in mind, there aren’t many things more “British” than the FA Cup, a tournament featuring the teams of the English football league, including teams from the English Premier League (Manchester, Arsenal, Chelsea, etc). So what happens when these two entities form a business partnership, where Budweiser is one of the primary sponsors of a decidedly European sporting event?
Budweiser and the Football Association have agreed to a three-year deal that sees Budweiser as one of the primary sponsors of FA Cup. In fact, while the agreement stands, the event will now be called The FA Cup with Budweiser. Is that anything like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim? Considering Budweiser has sponsored the World Cup for the past 25 years, such a relationship shouldn’t be so surprising, but then again, the World Cup is just that: teams from all over the world. Meanwhile, the FA Cup is an England-only tournament, making Budweiser’s primary sponsorship — over brands like Bass or, hell, even Guinness — ripe for humorous reactions.
Naturally, Twitter is the place for these gems, and with “Budweiser” trending in United Kingdom, there’s plenty of reaction to share, although, it should be said the first tweet I noticed captured the mood perfectly:
@Brendan_Surrey Bren‘FA Cup to be sponsored by Budweiser beer’ “Fans plan to add vodka to the famous American soft drink to make it alcoholic24 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
For some reason, I dig Nad Star’s Twitter background. Well, the right side of it, anyway. The Twitter assault on Budweiser continues:
@benyacobi Ben YacobiI suppose it’s too much to hope that the FA Cup sponser is the nice Czech Budweiser rather than the digusting watered-down American sort?2 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
@rhysjonesy Rhys JonesBudweiser new FA Cup sponsor. Will be interesting to see their logo on cardboard adverts rather than the taste of cardboard in their drink.3 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
A voice of reason shows up, but it’s doubtful the contribution will salve these reactions:
@DrewBSport Drew BarrandFor all those Budweiser naysayers, the #FACup needs sponsor revenue to survive. What would you rather live with? A sponsor or no FA Cup?3 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
Whatever the case, there’s little doubt the Football Association enjoys the influx of Anheuser-Busch money, and there’s even less doubt the FA Cup’s viewership will suffer because of the partnership. With that in mind, maybe next time, the FA can court some German beer brands. It’s not like the history between these two countries was that bad, right? Who knows, maybe Budweiser can make use of Arianny Celeste, much like they did with the Bud Light Lime commercial:
Surely that’s something the Americans and the British can agree on?
