Why These 5 Ads Are The Best and Worst Super Bowl LIX Ads (Part One)

Summary

Perpetual Traffic Podcast Summary: "Why These 5 Ads Are The Best and Worst Super Bowl LIX Ads (Part One)"

In the February 14, 2025 episode of Perpetual Traffic, hosts Ralph Burns and Lauren E. Petrullo delve into the standout Super Bowl LIX advertisements, dissecting their effectiveness, creativity, and impact. This detailed discussion offers valuable insights for marketers, business owners, and advertising enthusiasts seeking to understand what makes a Super Bowl ad resonate—or flop—with audiences.

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1. Introduction to Super Bowl LIX Ads

The episode opens with Ralph Burns highlighting the significance of Super Bowl commercials in the advertising landscape. He emphasizes how these ads serve as a battleground for brands to capture massive audiences and leave lasting impressions.

Ralph Burns [05:31]:
"Even if you're not a sports fan... a lot of people watch the Super Bowl just to watch the commercials or the advertisements."

This sets the stage for an in-depth analysis of the best and worst ads from Super Bowl LIX, focusing on their strategic approaches and outcomes.

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2. Hosts' Perspectives on the Super Bowl and Its Ads

Ralph and Lauren share their personal feelings about the Super Bowl, particularly its commercials. While Ralph admits he's not a football enthusiast, he appreciates the strategic elements of the game, likening it to a "game inside the game."

Ralph Burns [07:43]:
"There's so much strategy. And I never played football. I mean, I was a soccer guy myself... but I love watching football because it's just... it's like a game inside the game."

Lauren, on the other hand, admits she's not a football fan but enjoys the commercials, especially the "Puppy Bowl."

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3. Favorite Commercials

Lauren's Favorite: Wanda Sykes for Novartis

Lauren's top pick is a Wanda Sykes-led advertisement focusing on breast cancer awareness. The ad cleverly blends humor with a serious message, initially shocking viewers with provocative imagery before delivering its vital health message.

Lauren E. Petrullo [13:24]:
"The emotion I experienced for the very, like, first few seconds... it was like, are you kidding me? This is 2025. I'm not trying to be the woke person... But I was so embarrassed that this got approved."

The ad features Wanda Sykes, a breast cancer survivor, enhancing its authenticity and impact. Lauren praises the ad for its emotional depth and societal contribution.

Lauren E. Petrullo [14:49]:
"It's shifting the conversation to say, like, yeah, we should check out boobs, but let's check them out for breast cancer. Like, breast cancer screening."

Ralph's Favorite: Bud Light with Post Malone and Shane Gillis

Ralph cites the Bud Light advertisement featuring Post Malone and Shane Gillis as his favorite due to its humor and dual-purpose effectiveness.

Ralph Burns [21:48]:
"I love Shane Gillis, by the way. I just think he's absolutely hysterical... they lost the number one status as the number one light beer. It's now Modelo."

The commercial showcases community and camaraderie, aligning with Bud Light's brand image, though Ralph acknowledges its mixed reception and potential market risks.

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4. Most Effective Commercials

Lauren's Choice: NASCAR Campaign

Lauren identifies NASCAR's Super Bowl ads as the most effective, citing their diversity and strategic storytelling. The campaign introduced a new driver and showcased the sport's broader appeal beyond its traditional Southern demographic.

Lauren E. Petrullo [25:33]:
"It was super diverse. There are a lot more women in the ads. It was a greater, broader demographic appeal."

She appreciates how NASCAR leveraged storytelling to connect with a wider audience, making the sport more relatable and engaging.

Ralph's Choice: Duracell with Tom Brady

Ralph highlights the Duracell ad featuring Tom Brady as the most effective due to its attention-grabbing elements and humorous twist on Brady's persona.

Ralph Burns [31:10]:
"It got my attention. And how they threaded it in... it was like at the end of the series of ads. It wasn't like the first. If it was the first ad, I would have been like, this is a commercial."

The ad effectively used Brady's fame and a playful narrative to enhance brand recall and engage viewers.

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5. Insights on Marketing Strategies

Throughout their discussion, Ralph and Lauren emphasize key marketing strategies that contribute to an ad's success:

• Hook and Emotional Engagement: Successful ads capture attention within the first few seconds and maintain emotional engagement. The Wanda Sykes ad, for instance, uses shock value to draw viewers in before delivering its message.

• Storytelling and Relatability: NASCAR's campaign excels in storytelling, introducing relatable characters and narratives that resonate with a diverse audience.

• Humor and Brand Alignment: The Bud Light ad leverages humor to align with the brand's community-focused image, creating a memorable and enjoyable viewing experience.

• Diversity and Inclusion: Incorporating diverse demographics and perspectives, as seen in NASCAR's and Wanda Sykes' ads, broadens an ad's appeal and fosters deeper connections with various audience segments.

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6. Conclusions and Teasers for Part Two

As the episode wraps up, Ralph and Lauren reflect on the effectiveness and impact of the discussed ads. They tease the continuation of their analysis in Part Two, promising to explore the less favorable commercials and further dissect the strategies behind both successes and failures.

Ralph Burns [25:25]:
"And effectiveness. That was the best one. Was it my favorite one? No."

Lauren E. Petrullo:
"So we'll leave links in the show notes for all the ads in case you missed some of these."

Listeners are encouraged to engage with the hosts by sending the episode to their teams, increasing creative output, and accessing the show notes for additional resources.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Ralph Burns [05:31]:
  "Even if you're not a sports fan... a lot of people watch the Super Bowl just to watch the commercials or the advertisements."

• Lauren E. Petrullo [13:24]:
  "The emotion I experienced for the very, like, first few seconds... it was like, are you kidding me? This is 2025..."

• Ralph Burns [21:48]:
  "I love Shane Gillis, by the way. I just think he's absolutely hysterical..."

• Lauren E. Petrullo [25:33]:
  "It was super diverse. There are a lot more women in the ads. It was a greater, broader demographic appeal."

• Ralph Burns [31:10]:
  "It got my attention. And how they threaded it in..."

---

Final Thoughts

This episode of Perpetual Traffic offers a comprehensive look at Super Bowl LIX's advertising successes, blending personal anecdotes with professional analysis. Ralph and Lauren provide actionable insights into what makes a commercial effective, emphasizing the importance of creativity, strategy, and emotional resonance in advertising. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or a business owner seeking to enhance your advertising efforts, this discussion provides valuable lessons on leveraging high-profile ad platforms like the Super Bowl to achieve impactful results.

Listeners eagerly await Part Two, where Ralph and Lauren will continue their exploration of Super Bowl LIX ads, offering further evaluations and insights.

Transcript

[Ralph Burns]

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[Lauren E. Petrulo]

The founder of Mongoose Media.

[Ralph Burns]

So glad to have you with us today. You love it when I say amazing co host. I just see you gig. You know everyone who doesn't put on our YouTube channel, you got to go over to perpetualtraffic.com forward/YouTube. Every single show, she, like, glows and giggles when I said my amazing co host. Everyone loves a compliment.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Of course.

[Ralph Burns]

Of course we do. We're humans today. We're humans discussing the most human endeavor. Even if you're not a sports fan. Not a football fan especially. I know a lot of people who watch the super bowl who aren't, who hate football, and they only watch it just to watch the commercials or the advertisements and as they're known in our industry. And I think you're one of those people. You're not like a football fan, are you?

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

No, not at all. It's like, I played soccer. The real football.

[Ralph Burns]

The real. That's football, football.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

But it's not like the way that you can stop and pause games so frequently. It's felt like playing video games. I recognize that football is a really, really hard sport to do. American football, American football, it just doesn't have the same athleticism. Oh, my God, please don't get mad at me as like tennis or soccer or swimming. It's totally a sport. Look to be 6, 6 and 335 pounds. That is not easy. But you get to stop play, decide. It's almost like you're playing a video game and getting to pause. So I don't understand football the way anyone in Texas who watches high school football hates me immediately. But you know what I do like is the puppy bowl. And outside of the puppy bowl, the commercials. So I 100% I enjoy the game. Like, it's fun to watch. Just wish there was more dynamicism. And I don't like how much it start, stop, start, stop, start, stop.

[Ralph Burns]

So speaking of large humans, I was fascinated. See, I love the X's and O's about football because there's so much strategy. And I never played football. I mean, I was a soccer guy myself, so I played junior high school, high school all the way through into college, but I don't watch any soccer. I don't watch any football. But I love watching football. So I love it because it's just. There's a game inside the game and the game for me, which was completely boring. And I had to explain this to my wife the next morning because she didn't watch it. I was like, so who won the game? I was like, well, Philadelphia won. I was like, who was the star? And I said, the defensive line. She's like, really? I was like, watch this. So we watched a replay, and there were four dudes against, like, six dudes trying to the six dudes were trying to block the four dudes. Just. I'm getting a real, real technical here.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Yeah.

[Ralph Burns]

The average size of these guys was 6 foot 6, 338 pounds.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Yeah. That's.

[Ralph Burns]

That is insanely huge. One of the coolest statistics, the first super bowl, the average size of an offensive line, I think was like 6, 3, 2:40 or 2:30. That's how much bigger everyone has become. Like, I'm sure a lot of it is enhanced. Let's not kid ourselves here. But these four guys dominated. And Patrick Mahomes, who I don't love, but I respect, and I was glad to see him lose because I'm a Patriots fan. He was like, running for his life the entire time. It was so much fun to see him running for his life. That was my pleasure watching the super bowl, which is really sort of sick. But anyway, the thing that we're talking about here today is the ads, because everybody likes the ads.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Every money that went into it.

[Ralph Burns]

Is there anybody that doesn't like super bowl ads? Like, I've never met anybody that, like, oh, I can't stand. I fast forward through them. Like, course you want to watch them. Right.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

It helps me with the starting. And pause again. I go back to like, there's so much break time in between.

[Ralph Burns]

Yeah.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

That there's become an entire industry based on those pauses.

[Ralph Burns]

Yeah.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Which makes it hard for it to be a sport.

[Ralph Burns]

But.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Sorry, I'm gonna go back to one quick thing because you said the X's and O. Did you watch the Kendrick Lamar halftime show? There were the X's and O's on the stage.

[Ralph Burns]

I know.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

That was so that was a reference to football. I thought he was playing tic tac toe.

[Ralph Burns]

That was an homage to football.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Okay.

[Ralph Burns]

See, Kendrick meta.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

I didn't even get that level of Kendrick commitment to his knows Pulitzer prize winning performance.

[Ralph Burns]

Really? You thought it was great.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

I did. I enjoyed it. 90% of the other people I've talked to have not enjoyed it. They found it less spectacular. They wanted the Rihanna version or the Katy Perry. And like, massive amounts of showmanship.

[Ralph Burns]

Yeah.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

In the halftime. And then where. I like the simplicity. I liked how clear the audio was. I love the lyricism, the small nods of, like, when he looked straight at the camera with relation to his feud with Drake. When he uses a term that he calls him directly.

[Ralph Burns]

Ah, we can't say that at all.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

The whole stadium erupts and everyone says probably a minor things that I like. Like those moments you saw Serena Williams dancing and she was doing the Krip walk. I was like, oh, my gosh. It's the hybrid of, like, sports and culture infused in one. And, like, Uncle Samuel L. Jackson. Come on. That was brilliant.

[Ralph Burns]

Yeah. We couldn't have more different viewpoints on that. That is exactly when I went out and made my dinner.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Oh, you didn't use the angel soft potty break?

[Ralph Burns]

No, I didn't. Well, I did that, too, but, you know, it's like 30 minutes. It's twice the break, I believe, if I'm not mistaken. But no, I did watch it. I was amazed that he stayed in one outfit the entire time. I was my shock. And my kids were like, oh, this is the best thing ever. I'm just like. And I actually like Kendrick Lauren, like, certain songs, but I just couldn't get into it.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

So I think it's just going to say to everyone that didn't like it, like, sit down, be humble. Will just be his response to anyone who disagreed with it. But, like, the car was super creative. You got your entire audience come out. And I knew right away that they were going to make the flag because it was all the red, blue, and white outfits. I was like, oh, this is an easy, right, predictable component.

[Ralph Burns]

Yeah, I don't know. It just didn't, like, first off, I really have to enjoy the music, but secondarily, it's like I always compare everything back to YouTube in 2001. I'm sorry. That was like, the greatest halftime show ever, in my opinion.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Okay.

[Ralph Burns]

But be that as it may, setting all that aside, what was your favorite commercial? Now, there's two categories. Here is your favorite commercial. And then as a marketer, what do you feel was the most effective commercial? When we say commercial, it's funny how we say commercials on TV when it's really. It's an ad at the end of the day, 30, 60, some, somewhere like 90 seconds. It was kind of that. It's like, oh, my God. So what was your favorite ad? And then what was. If you have data, I know you had your people. This is great. This is what I love about you. You had your people doing an analysis of the super bowl ads. I was like, why didn't I think of that? That was brilliant. So tell me what your thoughts are.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Well, I, like, took my notes while watching the game, right? So I had my notes, and then on Monday morning, I sent a text to my team. I was like, all right, here are my favorite ads. I want you to get me data on how these ads performed, because if I liked them, did the Other people like them, were they worth the investment? What's the earned media that these got? And what are the other components that I missed out? Like, we found that State Farm had a commercial that wasn't aired.

[Ralph Burns]

Really?

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

That they pulled with Arnold schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito because it was about the fires.

[Ralph Burns]

Oh, right. And that has happened before too. I wasn't looking at that one this year. But anyway, go ahead.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Historically speaking, the Newcastle Anna Kendrick, not a Super bowl ad, was the most impactful one for me, where she had done one that wasn't aired. But it was in the premise of you hired Anna Kendrick. She thinks she's going to do a Super bowl commercial, and then you're not actually going to make it a Super bowl commercial. And she's like, what the heck? Which is kind of similar to the one where LeBron James was in the commercial for Taco Bell. And they're like, we actually just put the regular people who shop at Taco Bell versus hiring a celebrity endorser. So it was that same thread. I asked my team, find out all the things that I don't know about from the super bowl. And let's gather, how much were the investments made? How much was Tom Brady's watch? All those type of things that I had taken from notes. So, yeah, I had delegated that, got some data I can share. But your question was, what was my favorite commercial, bar none. My favorite one was with Wanda Sykes, and it was the commercial that was like, all boobs started off, and it was like that football leans male for the audience. However, with Taylor Swift's influence, it has opened up a larger demographic.

[Ralph Burns]

Yeah.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

And so when I saw this ad, the emotion I experienced for the very, like, first few seconds, it's like, okay. And then it sustained, and it was more boobs. I was, like, getting more and more emotionally charged. I was like, are you kidding me? This is 2025. Like, I'm not trying to be, like, the woke person that's, like, demanding diversity and all that stuff. Don't get me wrong. I love that. But I was like, are you kidding me? Like, I was embarrassed. I was so embarrassed that this got approved. What is this message gonna be?

[Ralph Burns]

It was so shocking to start. Go ahead.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Yeah, yeah, it was. It energized my inner workings so much that I had feelings before the final revealed. And then I saw, like, Hailee Steinfeld, who I love. She's got, like, this powerful anthem called, like, most Girls, like, play it in the gym all the Time. And then Wanda Sykes came out and it wasn't derogatory. In fact, it was shifting the conversation to say, like, yeah, we should check out boobs, but let's check them out for breast cancer. Like, breast cancer screening. And it got me. I felt like my emotional range was at its peak. And then it swooped in and delivered a message where I was like, oh, boy. That it has lasted with me for days. Ralph, that was amazing. And also, I love Wanda Sykes. She's a breast cancer survivor herself, so she came to be an honest and genuine spokesperson. So, bar none, the boobies. The boobies were the best.

[Ralph Burns]

Unbelievable. The shocking value of that was. It was insane to me. I was like, oh, my God, what am I watching? And I really didn't know what it was. And you hooked me in. We always talk about, like, great advertisements. Like, you need a hook. You need the first three seconds. How. What is that hook gonna be? How are you gonna pull me in? And immediately, from a male standpoint, was like, whoa, what is this? And you, from a shock and awe stamp, are like, whoa, what is this? So we both. Of the demographics, the avid football fan, me. And then you don't care about it at all, but are watching because of advertising. Or maybe you represent the demographic that is there to just see the screenshots or luxury sweet shots of Taylor Swift. You know, there's a certain demographic that is watching just for that. They may or may not be football fans, but how that all merged together in one ad. When it came together at the end, when Wanda Sykes came out, I was like, holy crap. I couldn't believe it. Rarely, I think, in an ad does it, like, it took your breath away. For me, I don't know if it had quite that effect, but I was like, wow, as an advertiser, that's insanely great.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

It was risky. And they had to really measure the time, because what was interesting is they had an abundance of different boobs. They brought in art, and so when they had peaked from, it was, like, the stereotypical one. Then they had, like, almost. I believe it was like, toys and stuff. And then they showed historical artworks. And I was like, where is this going? Like, every pulse of the ad sustained my attention because it was more flabbergasting because it was shocking awe. On the first hook, a crescendo of, we're doubling down on this, but we're infusing other pieces of inspiration. And then it came in with the clothes being like, got you. I was like, you did? You did? 100% did. I will say one thing, Ralph, to Your question earlier, which is the best and which is the most impactful? I don't know who the advertiser was. I know the message was a cancer screening.

[Ralph Burns]

Yeah, that's the interesting part of it. I thought it was actually American Cancer Society. So if you look this up, you Google it, it does say that. However, the last frame, it's Novartis. And Novartis. If you don't know what Novartis is, Novartis is a enormous ginormous pharmaceutical company. It's what they call big pharma. Used to be a part of that whole thing way back when. The point is they sell drugs for multiple drugs actually for breast cancer treatment. So what they are going is high level brand awareness to a certain degree, awareness of an issue which does, if you're thinking about it as a funnel, eventually funnels down to a commercial intent. So it wasn't just to be nice to say, hey everyone out there, let's shock and awe you. Including shots of the fembots, kind of sort of, you know, to a certain degree. There's also the guy in the coffee shop who's like, look at my eyes. He's like staring at the cleavage. It hit on so many great like through the years, like stuff about that area of human anatomy. The point is, is it did have a commercial intent. However, if you're going to spend $7 million $8 million, $8 million for 30 seconds without the production cost, without the value, take all that out of it, it's a significant investment. You better have some kind of commercial intent. But anyway, so it makes sense. So yes, you know, people who advertise on this, like there is a capitalistic intent. Of course advertising is to sell more stuff at the end of the day and, or awareness or to sell your ideas in some cases, like we talked about earlier, like he gets us that whole commercial thing that's been going on for a while, which I don't quite get, but anyway, versus very good. The one that was actually done in the Super Bowl I thought was really good. However, that ad really did stick out to me. So it's almost like it wasn't my favorite ad. But for me I feel it was at least lasting impact. It was something that I was like, holy crap, I need to make sure as a husband of a female who is in that demographic, making sure that she's doing those regular checks at all times. So like, at least that standpoint, whether or not I was to sell more drugs from Novartis, I don't really care. The point is Actually so good that it just, it really does have a very positive impact on society in a lot of ways.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

The societal impact, great. The stereotypical pharma commercial is usually like happy people doing like out on a picnic. There's a very attractive culture with a dog and a Frisbee and then a thousand lines of legalese. Please do not take this. If you have risk of a heart attack or if you breathe, you may struggle with diarrhea, whatever those components are. So I think where the brand didn't land with me in this, the opportunity is how do they leverage the initial commercial, which is their brand play, to extend further iterations of that campaign concept to bring home the product, introduce the brand more strategically. And the way I think about that is in the past, it's like you have your super bowl commercial, you run that initially and then you keep running that for a month and then you do off segment. So if they do more campaigns with Haley Steinfeld or Wanda Sykes or if they bring the fembots or they maintain that like, hey, have you seen any boobies today? Ask them, start the dialogue. And then it's like, maybe Novartis has like conversation starters. Or it's like it's bringing a dialogue that women have that men are never a part of. And to your point, it's like you're now introducing this conversation with Jen. But there has to be a way for it to have the impact it can because this was my favorite commercial. But unless they do more to it, I don't think it's be the most impactful.

[Ralph Burns]

Right.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

For the company.

[Ralph Burns]

You need a tail on that.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

They need a tail. They need to have iterations. They need to continue that campaign. Maybe they have like partnerships where they're buying billboards at oste breast cancer wards, at hospitals. Fortunately, I've never had to go into that department.

[Ralph Burns]

Oncology wards.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Oncology. Okay, perfect. Or near like ob GYN clinics where they have the billboards and it's like, let's check out boobies or like whatever that kind of language is so that it's bringing in their brand so that you can have that tail and connection. Otherwise it's going to be a really great campaign that looks good on earned media. But I had no idea until you just told me who that ad was from.

[Ralph Burns]

So it was effective from an awareness standpoint. So when I look at an ad, it's like, I love that ad, but do I remember what the brand is maybe the first time that I saw it? So for example, we're going on like Our favorite ads. That was your favorite ad is that.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Yes.

[Ralph Burns]

Okay.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

100 hands down.

[Ralph Burns]

So my favorite ad, like, I just respond to just humor, just in general. And my favorite ad was the Bud Light ad, which is Big man on the cul de sac is what it's called.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Ralph Burns]

With Post Malone and Shane Gillis. I love Shane Gillis, by the way. I just think he's absolutely hysterical. Best Trump impersonation I've ever, ever seen, by the way. Probably, like, leave some, you know, we'll leave a link in the show notes to one of his funniest, you know, beautiful dogs. If you have seen that on YouTube. Oh, my God, you're gonna have to watch it. We'll leave the links in the show notes over perpetualdraft.com I thought that was just absolutely hysterical. It was just so funny because they are coming back from about two years ago a major blunder on a marketing. Like a massive. Like business schools are going to talk about this for years, for sure. A marketing blunder, which you can get into some of the details, but the point is, is like they lost the number one status as the number one light beer. It's now Modelo. Oh, well, yeah, they have lost it. So they are coming back. And I felt like they pulled out stops because first off, Shane Gillis is that demographic that is anti that which we can get into that campaign, which is anti all the LGBTQ stuff, how they marketed themselves. And they made a big blunder there because they alienated.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Don't know, it's. They went too woke almost, is what people were saying. And then it went so far that Kid Rock even came out and banned Bud Light.

[Ralph Burns]

Right?

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Yeah, yeah. Like there's a crazy time and place and a way to do it. But the campaign failed because it was such a doctrine shift. There was no ease into it. And it just isolated people that don't share those same beliefs.

[Ralph Burns]

Yeah. So we'll leave links in the show notes for that ad in particular. And I forget the spokesperson for it. But anyway, so it alienated their core audience, which is basically Gen Z Millennial Men and Post Malone and Shane Gillis right up that alley also. Hold on.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

You say Gen Z Millennial Men, it's college age guys that don't have money to spend on higher quality beer.

[Ralph Burns]

So Gen Z, right? Gen Z.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

And it's like the intro. It's like Miller High Life and Bud Light. It's the gateway beer because you could buy a case and not have to break the bank.

[Ralph Burns]

Not necessarily, though. Like most of My experience with most of my friends, Gen X are and millennials, like they drink a lot of Bud Light. That's their thing. We have a beach right in front of us, Sagamore Beach. Like the official beer of Sagamore beach is Bud Light. And then it wasn't after those commercials. Unbelievable. So we go down there on the weekends. Like I know what everybody's drinking. The point is, yes, you can afford like the craft brews and all that other stuff, but like your go to on a hot Sunday afternoon is Bud Light. Always has been. Anyway, the point is they lost that whole market. And I think this is. Not that I agree or disagree, but I thought this was a hysterically funny. Like I said, we'll leave a link on this in the show notes for all the ads in case you missed some of these. But I thought that was my favorite one just because the humor value. And then I thought about it business wise, I'm like, this is really smart. So it's very effective in my opinion, the same way. So sort of serves a dual purpose.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

I like that it showed that you can have bug bite with your friends, you can have it with a barbecue, you can have it with your neighbors. It just showed the different ways in which you can enjoy a beer beyond just by yourself. But it's like bringing the community and Bud Light has done really great communal events. As a beer brand, I've always been super impressed by those. I just was not a Bud Light fan. But the ad is good. The ad is good. I'll give it to you.

[Ralph Burns]

All right. So.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

All right.

[Ralph Burns]

Well, we've gone through our favorite ones. What do you think is the most effective one that you saw? And let's define what effective really means from a marketing standpoint.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Okay, Fair. I think the most effective one for me, based on the definition of impact, longevity and uniqueness to the audience, is going to be what NASCAR did. Okay, they had three different slots, so they had a campaign. And honestly, in the diversity of ad types, there weren't as many beer ads as usual. There weren't as many stereotypically southern demographic ads. I found that it was super diverse. There are a lot more women in the ads. It was a greater, broader demographic appeal where I thought that NASCAR's bid was the most impactful because they had three different spots and their first spot was like introducing a NASCAR current icon and then just. It kept reinforcing. And I don't think a lot of the brands were catering to the NASCAR fan base where it was just catering to the larger US Population. So in terms of like leaning left, leaning right, I found that more ads leaned right or down the middle. Whereas the NASCAR was like, hey, we're going like, this is a men's sport. There are definitely a lot of women who watch it. But it felt like it was going to have the most impactful because of the consistency of the ads, the diversity of the type of ads, and then the like, you like sports. Here is another sport to be introduced to.

[Ralph Burns]

Interesting. What was it about it that makes you think it was particularly just because it introduced the personality I'm trying to get to. What is it specifically?

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Yeah, so the first ad was showcasing a new driver who, let's be real, is a very attractive man. And so it attracts a little bit to the female audience. But it was showcasing, it was doing good storytelling. It wasn't just about the sport, it was about the person and the upcoming season and just the sport in general, which I think has a lot of crossover for football fandom. Because when I think of nascar, I think southern states fandoms and football is bigger in the South. There are high schools of million dollar stadiums. Right, sure. So I just thought that it was leaning into an audience that was not very well served in the other ads. So the reason I think it was most impactful is because it had almost a unique viewership because there are going to be some ads that people absolutely tuned out. I loved WeatherTech's ad where it had the mature women and they were in their cars living their best life and. Yeah, you know, even like, not too fast. Yeah, yeah, not too fast, not too serious. It's still leaning in a different direction. Whereas this was like, this is nascar. This is the sport. It was just so direct. And then it had the greater appeal of why NASCAR as a sport could be interesting. For those that don't currently follow NASCAR like I follow Formula One nascar, you just keep going in a left turn. Formula One, you have different routes. That's generally speaking why I like F1 more than NASCAR. But it was introducing a new driver, it was introducing the diversity of the sport, showcasing like the aggression, the fun of exotic cars, but American exotic. So it felt very Southern American, whereas everything else felt New York and LA produced.

[Ralph Burns]

So the funny thing about that is I don't remember that ad at all. It had zero impact on me because anything nascar, I kind of tune out. I'm from the North, I don't watch nascar. I do watch Formula one, but it's on at an odd time on Saturdays and Sundays. So it's like I Don't really watch it. I did watch Drive to Survive. I watched all six seasons, which I thought was awesome and amazing. And the personalities. And there's a great video that's on there by, I think, the series on Wendover, which is on YouTube, where they talk about how F1 really reinvigorated the entire sport, not only through the Netflix series, but also by caring about the individual personalities and as opposed to just looking at the rankings. And there's the Constructors Champion, which is basically Ferrari and Mercedes and Alfa Romeo versus each other versus the individual dudes who win or lose, like Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, you know, Landon Norris. Like, all those guys. Like, the fact that I actually know their names now is crazy because look at that.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Carlos signs. You almost. Carlos signs my favorite driver after Hamilton.

[Ralph Burns]

I love Carlos Sainz.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Yeah. Only one who can drive in the rain.

[Ralph Burns]

That's right. He's a great rain driver. So anyway, so my boy, you know, Lewis Hamilton is going over Ferrari this year.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

You have no idea. That's my favorite team and my favorite driver. I'm set for this year.

[Ralph Burns]

Yeah, Pretty cool. He's really cool guy. So anyway, so there's a whole idea, like how they actually grew their brand, which we'll leave links in the show notes on that, which is fascinating because they know. What we know on this show is like, you have to care about the personalities. It's not just about who's winning and who's losing. Because what they're finding is like, everyone was like, Lewis Hamilton was so far ahead of everyone for like, seven years, it didn't matter. So everyone was like, I'm not going to tune in because I know who's going to win. Lewis always wins every race. But they didn't care about Lewis Hamilton, so they made the shift over to it. So anyway, so the point is. But nascar, for me, I tune that stuff out completely because I'm actually into other stuff. So it's fascinating that that was your most effective commercial. For me, totally biased. Once again, New England sports fan. I thought the most effective commercial for shock value. And I remembered it included my boy with the $740,000 watch, Tom Brady. And it was the Duracell ad because I didn't know if they had gone back to the live broadcast or not.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Okay, so bringing in those two broadcasters.

[Ralph Burns]

Yeah, right. And I was like, oh, the background looks a little bit different because they were on a green screen on the main broadcast. This is how I thought. But it immediately made me look up from my Phone. Because I heard his voice. I'm like, all right, we're back. So from an effectiveness standpoint, like, it got my attention. And then it was kind of brilliant because the knock on him is that he's robotic.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

Oh, okay. I didn't know that. Tie into the ad.

[Ralph Burns]

Yes. And he's self aware, but he kind of gets offended when people talk to him about that because there's so much written in the Boston media about Tom Brady, it's crazy. I mean, he did win six Super Bowls for us. But anyway, the point is, I know intimately, like, how it kind of is. So the fact that it changes batteries on his forearm was absolutely comical. So anyway, so that I thought was the most effective ad for me because it caught me even more so than the Novartis ad that we talked about, because I watched the whole thing because I was like, all right, I'm back in the. How they did it. They threaded it in. It was like at the end of the series of ads. It wasn't like the first. If it was the first ad, I would have been like, this is a commercial. But they had like two or three ads. And then they had that one. Maybe it's like the fourth or fifth one. So that one. And then it was funny. And the fact that he, you know, he kind of goes down like this, you know, as a robot, and, you know, the guy comes in and changes his batteries.

[Lauren E. Petrulo]

I thought it went more to, like, the longevity of him. You have Durasal, his longevity of his career. But I hadn't realized there was a play on the robotics component. So that's even better. But yeah, when it had Kevin Burkhart and Tom Brady, I can see how you thought, like, it was back to it, so it would capture your attention. So I'll give you that one for sure. But, like, it was. It was interesting because, like, who uses batteries anymore, Right?

[Ralph Burns]

True. But if you do, do you choose the store brand or you go with Duracell? Like, they've done a good job at differentiating there. It's like, I don't know if I want it to last a little bit longer. I guess I'll get the Duracells. So it did that. The fact that I remember it was a Duracell battery ad right there is good. So effectiveness. That was the best one. Was it my favorite one? No. So let's go to your least favorite. Until Next Show, Part 2. Send this episode to your team and increase your creative output here. And obviously all links. We mentioned a lot of them over in the show notes, almost 2 minute mention [e-mail] and make sure you're wherever you listen to podcast. Leave us a review. Leave us a rating. Let us know what you think, especially on Spotify, about this week's show. And on behalf of my awesome, amazing co host, Lauren E. Petrulo. So until next show, part two, we'll see you then. You've been listening to Perpetual Traffic.