The average cost of a 30-second Super Bowl LI commercial was $5 million. Super Bowl LI had less stand-out commercials than the past Super Bowls and many of the ads highlighted inclusiveness and acceptance of diversity.
The last thing a company wants after spending millions of dollars and months of planning is to have people hate the ad. Many of the ads featuring diversity faced fierce backlash online after they aired. These ads had been scripted and planned for months before Trump won the election and implemented his immigration ban.
It would have been hard for companies to predict the political climate in our country today and make statement ads. Some companies purposely made their ads about diversity and were meant to make key statements. Coca-Cola, Audi, and Airbnb all highlighted the diversity in our country and strides toward equality for all.
Some ads were interpreted differently than how the company wanted and they weren’t meant to be political statements. 84 Lumber’s ad was about a mother and daughter leaving their home and immigrating somewhere else. The company has stated that the ad was highlighting legal immigration, but that is not how many people interpreted the ad for themselves.
Budweiser’s Super Bowl commercial featured the story of the founder of the company, who was a German immigrant to the country. The ad was meant to focus on the company’s history, but people believed it was Budweiser making a political statement.
Many companies did stay away from any kind of political issue, but not many stood out to watchers. Honda had a successful ad featuring celebrities in yearbooks. Mr. Clean had watchers either love or hate their ad, which featured a mom in love with an animated Mr. Clean.
Many smaller, lesser known companies placed ads in this year's Super Bowl; some being successful while others fell flat. Many big companies who typically have ads in the Super Bowl didn’t have an ad featured in this year’s Super Bowl, such as Dorito.
Companies are now off to start planning their ads for Super Bowl LII and consumers are back to regular ads until next year.
