Marketers (and dogs) won the Super Bowl

Welcome to your midweek marketing update. This one’s a bit longer, so let’s get into it. (And just to confirm: the dogs were very good this week.)

The Best Super Bowl Ads

Everyone is weighing in on the best (and worst) Super Bowl ads. And even though celebrity cameos popped up in some of the top ads, the best received ads featured Man’s best friends: dogs. Both Amazon and The Farmer’s Dog (USA Today’s #3 and #1 on Ad Meter, respectively) used emotional approaches, buoyed by our collective love for dogs, to great effect.

The successful ads featuring celebrities achieved that success through a combination of nostalgia and comedy. It’s why we all enjoyed watching Mr. White and Jesse “break good,” Ben Affleck lean into his memeification to work at Dunkin’s and encounter his wife in the drive-thru, and John Travolta team up with J.D. and Turk to sing an adapted version of “Summer Lovin’.” NFL’s own ad (#2 on USA Today’s Ad Meter) also followed this formula to great reception.

Big-name stars aren’t always enough to make a meaningful, memorable ad. The Farmer’s Dog won this year’s Super Bowl by creating an emotional journey for viewers that paid off—they beat out bigger brands with more expensive ads by tugging on heartstrings. Proof you don’t need a showy production to make waves.

Giant Spoon’s Super Bowl ChatGPT Experiment

Creativity was the AI-proof factor for marketers—until now. Partner and creative chair at Giant Spoon Noel Cottrell “hand[ed] the keys to the kingdom over to ChatGPT.” The app generated live tweets during Super Bowl Sunday’s game. Although one human was feeding ChatGPT keywords and prompts, the AI created all content and without the help of a typical Super Bowl “war room.”

Giant Spoon’s summed up their experiment in a tweet: “Annnd we’re back. The humans. But what have we learned? That our AI overlords aren’t god-like ad-artisans? Well, no. #ChatGPT did okay. It's just... a tool. A good tool. But a tool. And if we use it to compliment our work, not replace it, then we’ll all take home more Ws.”

Giant Spoon was, no doubt, hoping the experiment would highlight its own creativity—and posted the ChatGPT output vs. original prompt receipts. And their takeaway from the stunt is what most marketers should take away from AI: it’s a tool.

Around the Web

• Podcast ad buyers are hesitant to spend through demand-side platforms.

• The worst Super Bowl ads were “safe, lazy, and boring.”

• How can AI increase revenue for your ecommerce shop?

• A dedicated intern made the Savannah Bananas TikTok famous.

• Super Bowl LVII’s ratings should have marketers cheering.

Just Can’t Get Enough

Hush trips—secret working getaways where remote employees clock in from remote locales. Because why should your remote boss tell you where to remote work?

• Plus, hush trips are great at combating burnout.

• But companies might end up footing some of the bill.

Did you agree with the ad opinions everyone is talking about? Were you also baffled by Ram Trucks’ semi-inappropriate “premature electrification”? Reply and let us know your favorite (or most hated) Super Bowl ads.

Thanks for joining us, and we’ll see you Friday!