Super Bowl 50 falls shy of record ratings, while ads played it safe with humor
Entertainment
Super Bowl 50 falls shy of record ratings, while ads played it safe with humor
Super Bowl 50 was the third most-watched Super Bowl in U.S. history, with 111.9 million Americans watching the game on television, ratings data showed on Monday. The Super Bowl is traditionally the most-watched television event annually in the U.S., and TV audiences have risen for five of the last six contests. Last year’s showdown drew 114.4 million viewers. And advertisers played it safe and light with the most expensive Super Bowl ad slots ever, shunning previous years’ attempts at being outrageous, emotional or thought-provoking.
We didn’t see too many emotional or too many deep ads. Most of them played it really safe, really lighthearted.
Derek Rucker, professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management
The low-risk approach may have been a reaction to last year, when Nationwide Mutual Insurance drew heat for featuring a dead boy speaking to viewers in an ad about child safety. This year, in two of the most unusual spots, Mountain Dew rolled out a creature made from a puppy, a monkey and a baby, while Doritos had a fetus on ultrasound reaching for a chip. One of the most popular ads early on in the game was by carmaker Audi, featuring the song “Starman” by David Bowie, who died last month.
That one really resonated.
Jim Joseph, chief integrated marketing officer at communications and public relations agency Cohn & Wolfe
