Thread by @gauravsabnis

Tonight I'll be tweeting about the #SuperBowl a lot, using the hashtag #BT403 for the benefit of my students. There will be a LOT of tweets even by my standards lol. Feel free to follow along, participate, or of course, mute if you aren't interested in this very Murcan thing.

There's going to be a lot of crypto related tweets cos, well, check out this 🧵. I'm a skeptic of this ad buy strategy and also of crypto in general. If you're one of those almost religiously into crypto, mute me and avoid getting senti lol.

https://twitter.com/gauravsabnis/status/1492819912808620033?t=8bYZyU4QViNZRjL9JNhPVQ&s=19

All my #SuperBowl tweets tonight, including the #BT403 related ad tweets will be in this thread. So you can bookmark or mute the thread it as you please.

My students have a 10% weightage assignment analyzing tonight's ads that they will make presentations about in 2 weeks.

Marketing Strategy in a Digital World. It's the final course in our Marketing undergrad track. Heavy on real life case studies. And Superbowl is the biggest night of the Marketing world so obviously it's a big deal in the course. As are the Oscars.

https://twitter.com/sumitgupta2/status/1492986950671867904?t=o_xKHqjm0HS7J_moPFR0cw&s=19

All marketers try to ride the bandwagon of the #SuperBowl, even the @NatlParkService which today held "Superb Owl Sunday", lol.

I doubt the NFL will go after the parks service. But they are generally very aggressive about protecting the trademark.

#BT403

Other marketers though can't even use the name #SuperBowl in their promotions unless they've paid the NFL for it. So if you want to announce "Free garlic bread with pizza for SuperBowl", you better be Pizza Hut. Others have to say "the big game" instead. Or the NFL sues. #BT403

And the first official #SuperBowl ad is appropriately Visit California. The game is back in Los Angeles after three decades. The use of Anthony Anderson is common cos he appeals to all key demographics. The wealthy middle aged family person.
#BT403

Celebrities of color who have "broken through" into the mainstream are the most desirable celebrities for marketers, cos they appeal the most to all demos as research shows. So Anderson, John Legend, Mindy Kaling etc are frequent models. #BT403 #SuperBowl

Stephen Colbert parodied this thing by using the same Superb Owl joke, which has been around forever.

He didn't need to of course. He is covered by the first amendment. Even the NPS I believe is exempt as a govt agency.

https://twitter.com/jburkespraker/status/1493003345421914118?t=A2VXrfNrrGKMXIXJ6s5AFw&s=19

Haha, having @TheRock start the introductions off with his catchphrase amended to "Finally the #SuperBowl has come back to Los Angeles" is the most Hollywood thing ever. It has been three decades after all.

Only one #SuperBowl has used decimal numerals not Roman ones. You can guess even if you don't follow the game. It was Super Bowl 50 cos SuperbowlL would look weird.

Also the 30th SuperBowl created the first parental filter crisis ever cos they all blocked urls with XXX lol.

It was one of the first Super Bowls if not sports events to have a proper website and all. 1996. So imagine the NFL's chagrin when the website SuperBowlXXX dot com was flagged by all blocker services, also in their infancy. Fun fact from internet history. 🤭

Polestar 2 taking a dig at Musk and Tesla with this #Superbowl ad. "No conquering Mars" lol. #BT403

Mary J. Blige who will be doing the Halftime show also did an ad for Hologic promoting screening.

The first #CryptoBowl ad was a QR code just bouncing around the screen on a black background for 30 seconds like a screensaver. Followed by a blue screen saying paid for by Coinbase.

Big risk, assuming that enough people will actually scan it. Waste of 7 mn. But crypto so 🤷🏽‍♂️

Doritos with a reliably quirky cute funny ad like at even #SuperBowl . For them, Avocados from Mexico, Bud Light etc, themes have been the same for a few years in quirky ads. #BT403

The difference between crypto and other ads is that other ads need to have millions of people buy enough of their product/service for the 7 mn dollar ad buy to be worth it. Crypto exchanges only need to keep crypto prices to keep going up, like a Ponzi scheme. Sales irrelevant.

Someone at Chevy read this tweet and made a contemporary version of the Sopranos opening with Willow driving. Again, a pop culture appeal to people in their 40s cos they spend the most. All nostalgia tonight will target my generation. #SuperBowl
#BT403

https://twitter.com/gauravsabnis/status/1482421183207415810?t=Y7Prn49OwWN5n6BMdbcLgg&s=19

Meadow* not Willow. Also had AJ at the end. And parking next to a diner.

Whoa, WrestleMania, which has been PPV forever, will now be on Peacock, the streaming platform of NBC. Two struggling brands coming together. #SuperBowl

Both Hannah Waddingham and Jason Sudeikis have appeared in #SuperBowl ads this year like many of the Schitt's Creek cast did last year. Emmy winners frequently do.

Jim Carrey joined the list of yet another big name from twenty years ago in a #SuperBowl ad. This "20 years ago" theme is universal this year, from crypto being like dotcom to celebrities in ads to the Halftime show. As a #90sKid I'm not complaining. I'm the target anyway.

For me, the weirdest crypto ad this #SuperBowl this year in terms of casting with the marketing message conveyed was this. Larry was funny but the "ironic" casting can also seem confusing to those who don't know enough, condescending to those who do.

And as I said in my previous thread, there is nothing being sold there other than the idea "don't miss out", which FTX weirdly leans into instead of telling people why it is a better crypto exchange than others. "Don't miss out" is how Ponzi schemes are sold. Not infrastructure.

As long as crypto is sold primarily as a get-rich-quick, dont-miss-out "hot stuff" like e-commerce was during the dotcombowl, it will continue to undermine the very real transformative potential of Blockchain tech. Real currencies seek stability not windfall profits.

I'll go back to the petsdotcom vs chewy ads. Pets ads from dotcombowl era are funny, cute, but say little more than, we have a website & we deliver. Flop.

This current chewy ad is cute AND conveys specific pluses. Why it is a multi billion brand today.

The dotcombowl's mistake was creating this hype that the internet would make EVERYONE rich somehow, which no one was ever going to believe. But when the internet became just a mundane part of commerce, is when it made at least enough people rich or happy.

Crypto is at stage 1.

Rounding this thread out with my brief spot on @NY12 news from Saturday, where I talked a bit about the coming crypto ads. #SuperBowl #BT403

mms.tveyes.com/MediaView/?c3R…

Strap in for a lot of 90s nostalgia.

USA would like to return to not just a pre pandemic normal but ideally a pre 9/11 normal and the least worst time we can remember was the 90s. It occupied the sweet spot right between the cold war and 9/11. No other decade was as chill.

Past century for USA

1930s great depression
40s wwII
50s-80s cold war red scare nuclear annihilation
90s OBVIOUS NOSTALGIA DECADE
00s 9/11, Iraq, recession
10s Trump, global warming
20s pandemic, still Trump

Here's another short segment

It was nice to represent @FollowStevens @StevensBusiness to discuss #SuperBowl ads