SUPER BOWL LVII ADS: WINS AND LOSSES
The commercials that scored a touchdown and those that fumbled hard.
Last night’s Super Bowl saw The Kansas City Chiefs win their second NFL title in four years in one of the highest-scoring games. Not only was the biggest night in sports a history-making event featuring an all-women flyover, but it also helped redefine the starting quarterback position courtesy of Black players Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts. Additionally, 53% of Gen Zs who planned to watch the halftime show witnessed the long-awaited return of the cultural force Rihanna surprising us all by revealing her second pregnancy. If that wasn't enough to get the fandoms all a flutter, of the 38% of Gen Zs who planned to watch the commercials and 61% that have now sought out the ads online after the game, we became curious to know what young viewers thought about last night’s ads. We turned to our Cassandra Collective and posed this question to Gen Z and Millennials across the country. Ahead, the ads that resonated and why.
DUNKIN’
Hitting the headlines for the second time in as many weeks, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, are co-stars in Dunkin' 2023 Super Bowl ad. In the commercial, Ben sports a Dunkin' T-shirt and headset while working in a drive-thru for the donuts and coffee chain, struggling to find the bagel button on the store's ordering system and interacting with customers. Several of them instantly recognize Ben, including one woman whose jaw drops upon pulling up to the window, another who wants a picture with the man who has been photographed carrying Dunkin’ more times than we can count, and lastly, JLo, who is also a bit surprised to find Ben working the drive-thru window. “No one has ever seen Ben Affleck smile this hard in Hollywood,” entertainment reporter Fletcher Peters tweeted.
— Victor, 15, IL (Cassandra Collective)
GENERAL MOTORS & NETFLIX
Have you wanted to see Will Ferrell in Stranger Things, Squid Game, and a bunch of other Netflix shows? Here you go, and he’s promising that the streamer will feature more electric vehicles in their shows (okay, probably not a period piece like Bridgerton, though seeing Ferrell trying to pronounce "shan't" in a frilly shirt was still kind of entertaining). The two companies first announced their partnership with two teaser ads earlier in February to see General Motors double down on its commitment to the worsening global climate, vowing to develop 30 new electric vehicle models by 2025.
— Evan, 30, HI (Cassandra Collective)
M&MS
The much-hyped M&M’s Super Bowl commercial that was supposed to clarify the status of the brand’s “spokescandies,” which were put on pause after right-wing pundits criticized them, finally aired on Sunday, and it was, well, confusing.New pitchwoman Maya Rudolph was selected to take over, but her ad changed the candies' name and put clams in the center of every pellet during the game. After the game, M&M’s aired their spot with the punchline: The candies were coming back for good, with the purple M&M saying, “I’m glad to be back because this is what I was made for.” However, Cassandra Collective members, including Janelle, 23, from Nevada, weren’t so impressed, telling us, “My least favorite commercial was the M&M's commercial with Maya Rudolph. It just was so odd. I love M and M's, but it was an odd commercial that I hated and didn't understand it. It was not my favorite.”
— Asmitha, 18, IL (Cassandra Collective)