Multicultural Marketing News – Super Bowl LII Ads Analysis: A Multicultural Perspective

Super Bowl LII steered away from controversy. While ads during last year’s game were overtly socially conscious, with spots surrounding immigration and other polarizing political themes, 2018 mostly played it safe with humor.  One has to wonder whether corporations faced backlash from such ads last Super Bowl and simply wanted to avoid controversial discussions this year. Indeed, one of the only spots from 2018 that attempted a political message was from Dodge, who used a soundbite from Martin Luther King, Jr. to overlay imagery of their trucks, and it has already been heavily criticized on social media since it was aired less than 24 hours ago.  However, most ads focused on entertaining without a strong message, such as Bud Light’s continuing “Dilly Dilly” and Tourism Australia creating a faux-trailer for a new Crocodile Dundee. Even spots for the NFL itself, which has no doubt faced a large share of political discussion this season, had Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. breaking out their rendition of the famous scene from Dirty Dancing. On social media, reception for most of these ads seems light and positive.  Granted, there were also a good number of ads that showcased corporations’ philanthropic programs, such as Matt Damon’s clean water promise from Stella Artois and Hyundai’s Hope on Wheels to fight pediatric cancer. It seems these feel-good messages were included for millennials and younger viewers, who are generally less interested in advertising and more interested in making a difference.  It will be interesting to see how Super Bowl marketing themes – humorous or heavy –  evolve in the coming years. By Tracy Fey.  Contact: Karen Sinisi, Director of Sales, Ethnic Technologies,  866-333-8324 ext 117, karens@ethnictechnologies.com.

Sitting in a bar in Mexico watching Superbowl 52 livestream complete with ads, I witnessed the ups and downs of both the ads and the game to its Eagles soaring finale, and my lens changed from a U.S. Multicultural marketer to a world participant. From that perspective, the question was simply ‘what multicultural ads…and does it really matter on this particular world stage? My answer continues to be a resounding yes, even if today’s Superbowl ads are more attraction vs. sales driver, this is how U. S. brands show their diversity and inclusion – both to its people and on a global scale – and impact brand perceptions.  The ads ran the gamut from the ingenious, heartfelt, hilarious, viral and ‘we are the world’ to the inconsequential and insulting – and while more ads championed global diversity and had an African-American focus, it was weak in portraying U.S. Hispanics, Asians and other ethnicities who drive the sales and growth across many categories.  Diversity was nicely portrayed by a handful of brands with inspirational feel-good themes and evoking the power of possibilities. Toyota’s ‘One team’ spot showcased people from the world’s major religions en route to a football game while another reminded us that ‘when we are free to move, anything is possible’; T-Mobile showed us a beautiful future with connected babies from all walks of life all over the world, a solid premise since T-Mobile invests in diversity and their workforce is over 60% minorities; E-trade cleverly prodded us to save since ‘over 1/3 of Americans have no retirement savings’; Amazon.com hilariously showed how they empower (and dominate) our lives with Alexa fill-ins Gordon Ramsey, Anthony Hopkins, Rebel Wilson and Cardi B; Tide’s clean-centric campaign with a breadth of people poked fun at advertising; Coca’s Cola’s ‘The wonder of us’ celebrated diversity with a poem that there’s a Coke out there ‘for he, and she, and her, and me, and them’; and Budweiser’s bottling water ad focused on their response to natural disasters all over the world set to the song ‘Stand By Me’.  In a riskier, more political light, the hip-hop star Pras succeeds promoting his new ‘blacture’ site that begins with him blindfolded with tape over his mouth, and once removed, the text says “A voice and a vision for Black Culture”. Conversely, RAM trucks was unsuccessful and totally crossed the line showing people helping others while using Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words about the virtues of service to sell trucks and punctuate RAM’s tagline “Built to Serve”.  There were also some great ads without a multicultural or global cast, because all ethnicities could effectively relate to the theme, context, situation, or humor…what we call a ‘universal ad’. These included: Toyota’s emotional portrayal of the odds of winning a Paralympic gold medal with Lauren Woolstencroft (1 in 997,500,000); the NFL’s salute to iconic Dirty Dancing with Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr.; Tag-team Mountain Dew and Doritos’ funny spot with hip-hop lip syncing from cherished actors Morgan Freeman and Peter Dinklage; Pepsi’s fun, nostalgic journey narrated by Jimmy Fallon about all their classic celebrity ads; Bud Light’s Bud Knight, again, with Freeman; Danny DeVito’s M&M personification; and the off-beat standout ad poking fun at country music by the Voice, hugely popular among Hispanics.  The rest of the ads were either irrelevant to Multicultural USA, vanilla, non-sequiturs, over-the top or totally flat. (Jeep, Michelob Ultra, Squarespace, Diet Coke, Febreze, and Hyundai to name a few.)  Bottom-line, some ads have a powerful enough theme or context universality that can be relevant to a multicultural audience, even without checking the casting box or leveraging ethnic-specific insights – but they are few and far between. However, in a unique world stage like the Superbowl, meant to entertain rather than sell, the possibilities are greater.  By Liz Castells-Heard, President, Castells Advertising, 213-688-7217, liz@adcastells.com.

Another Super Bowl came and went; another series of ads along with it. Puppies, babies, adrenaline, screaming and a sprinkle of diversity – the “so called” recipe for success. Some approached this better than others. Coca-Cola and T-Mobile managed to pull at the heart strings of millions through their powerful ads that created a strong sense of connection through diversity. Other ads seemed misguided. I’m talking #JACKvsMartha among others. The intentions were there, but the execution was uninformed. Nevertheless, it’s time to update this recipe when it comes to reaching the Multicultural audience, or should I say reaching the people of America. A sprinkle isn’t enough anymore. Especially on this magnitude of stage. It’s time to move toward an integrated approach that turns that sense of connection through diversity into a reality in our industry and our workplace. Diversity should be felt day one during that brainstorm as much as it should be reflected day fifty in the final product. It’s time to step up. It’s time to set the bar higher.

From jaw-dropping creative parody to the things that make you say “Hmmm?!”, the commercials accompanying this year’s Eagles’ win against the Patriots were as up, down and unexpected as the game. With the world watching, familiar brands and products rose to their stellar reputation. It was a socially conscious year for Superbowl ads, with much emphasis on family, charity and diversity. At checkout counters across the US, ethnic market customers briefly took their eyes off our NRS POS on-screen ads to watch superbowl commercials heralding Doritos, Mountain Dew, Mexican avocados and Pizza Hut delivered to the Garcia’s urban home. What a fabulous tribute to the multicultural essence of our country, a tapestry of diversity!  This year, Super Bowl advertisers took a deliberate stance in socio-political correctness, focusing on familiar, shared traditional values and American comforts of modernity and technology while triggering cravings. This year’s commercials were successful in tempting people, hungry or not, to head to their local bodega and shop. Even after a savory foot-long hero, who can resist a bag of Doritos Blaze chased by Mountain Dew Ice? At National Retail Solutions, our mission is to help bodegas thrive and succeed with a point of sale system that incorporates customer loyalty discounts. What we share in common with Super Bowl 2018 is our love for multicultural consumers in this country who strive to keep traditions alive; particularly the traditions and flavors shared with loved ones.  By Diana Stern, Director of Marketing and Sales Support, National Retail Solutions / IDT, 973-438-5066, dstern@nrsplus.com.