Thread by @gauravsabnis

So far, the clear winner in the #SuperBowl ad bowl is the T-Mobile campaign. Though Verizon is the official sponsor and blocked the Brady-Gronk ad, the other celeb studded ads are memorable too. That Gwen Stefani Adam Levine Blake Shelton ad was especially cute.

One thing Steve Jobs doesn't get explicit credit for sorta creating is the phenomenon of #SuperBowl ads being something people specifically like a newly released short film. The famous 1984 Apple ad (aired on tv only once, as a brilliant gimmick in hindsight) spawned that.

Until then, of course it was a big deal to advertise in the #SuperBowl just like the world series or world cup or olympics or Wimbledon. But this idiosyncratic unique quasi-entertainment cache of the ads started because of that 1984 ad still watched decades later

This was the #SuperBowl ad of the night IMHO. Perfect on all dimensions. Funny, memorable, forward-compelling, and still solidly hewing to a clear objective positioning message consistent with other T-Mobile ads. And it was a bit of a surprise.

https://twitter.com/MediaNewsJrnl/status/1358585293880909824?s=09

I think somebody gonna get a hurt real bad in the Verizon marketing team. T-Mobile executed a perfect advertising heist this time. Like @sumants noted, similar to Pepsi "Nothing Official About It" in the 1996 Cricket World Cup.

I am working on a paper on a conceptual framework for this Temporary Underdog Brand phenomenon. People know that both Verizon & T-Mobile are huge companies as are Pepsi & Coke. But if one can successfully build up an underdog narrative, even if obviously advertising-ish, it works

So no one really believes that T-Mobile is the plucky outsider being picked on by big bad Verizon "banning" that one ad. But this narrative of official sponsor versus unofficial wise guy is such that, naturally, you kinda root against the official sponsor.

The most funnily blah ad for me was the very cluelessly appropriate choice of Amy Schumer as a brand ambassador for mayo. Next, Lena Dunham selling ranch dressing. Megyn Kelly selling Mac & cheese. JK Rowling selling boiled cabbage.