On this episode of Brand2Brand, Thomas and Veronica tackle America’s favorite unofficial holiday - Super Bowl Sunday - and the giant brands that spent millions to be part of the action. With over 100 million viewers tuned in for the big game, the goalposts were set high for those brands. Which ones scored big? Which ones fumbled? Our hosts will also share their thoughts about the halftime show and Gen Z’s shock at watching their parents twerk to Dr. Dre (...as if anyone’s ever too cool for old school).

core/paragraph

core/button

core/buttons

TRANSCRIPTION FROM AUDIO PODCAST:

core/heading

Veronica&nbsp;&nbsp;

You're listening to Brand2Brand. A not-so-serious marketing show for serious marketers. With your host, Thomas Stirling.

&nbsp;

Thomas

What’s up, everybody? Today on the show we're digging into one of the most anticipated marketing events of the year. We'll take a look at brands like Frito-Lay and GM to see what marketing tactics we can learn from the Super Bowl. Alright, let's kick things off.&nbsp;

Audio Clip

You know, we had to do an episode about the Super Bowl. I mean, one of the craziest moments in marketing for the year, and I would argue an opportunity to see what trends marketers are setting for the coming year. And - I got some notes I want to -&nbsp;

Veronica

I mean, look, I always like to think about the Super Bowl is really an indication of where we are as a country. Right, we're all hunkered down, we got an overwhelming amount of food and beer, maybe some new dishes you've never tried making before,&nbsp; some favorites, some freezer-burned ones, too. And it really tells us sort of the current state of the country. It's one of the biggest - and really is - the biggest single marketing event of the year. Over 100 million people tune in, and it really speaks to sort of broader social, cultural, and economic trends. And I'd be amiss if I didn't talk about that halftime show, I mean, TikTok was exploding with twenty-somethings reflecting on what their parents' demeanor was before the game, and then during the halftime show.

Yeah, there are so many jokes about how many people had sore lower backs after that from breaking it down -

- And breaking the wall between parental oversight and hip hop.

It's like, "Wow, I never saw my mom twerk before today."

I mean honestly, just under $7 million to buy a :30 spot. And these brands aren't willing to take a risk, so you really start to see some of these evolving trends. Right? What did you see in some of the ads?

I was surprised how almost every ad had humor and comedy, which I like.

- and that's part of your personal brand.

It is part of my personal brand. And we've heard about some classic faux pas of brands trying to get a little bit too emotional during the Super Bowl when it felt inauthentic. One of which that comes to mind, using an MLK speech to sell cars - not what he would have wanted - so I think brands got raked over the coals for some of those poor decisions. And realizing comedy just unites the folks.&nbsp;

It certainly does. And even looking a little bit deeper, a lot of nostalgia this year. A lot of nostalgia. Last year a lot of "COVID - we're gonna get through it" as we approached the one-year anniversary of COVID and "We're maybe turning the corner".&nbsp; Now, it's like forget the corner let's talk about the good old days -

"Let's go back, everything sucks now, This is going off a cliff, let's look backward, everybody!"

Hey, I think there's a lot of opportunity for optimism but when you see Dr. Evil or The Cable Guy or a halftime show featuring - I mean 50 Cent looked like he was about to fall out of the -

I am not liking the 50 hate, even though he was out there looking like the whole dollar.

Thomas

And with that, let's get into it. Alright, GM versus Frito-Lay.

I feel like you would normally take a brand like GM, so just to shake things up a bit I'm gonna take that brand. I'm gonna let you have Frito-Lay.

I do like representing the corporate behemoth, but that's just how I do. That's fine. I eat a Dorito from time to time.

All right, I don't - I actually did eat Cheetos in preparing for this episode, just because...

When? I didn't see that. Sneaky, sneaky treats. All right. Frito-Lay. Frito-Lay owns so many household names, right? Obviously,&nbsp; Lays. Doritos. Cheetos. Fritos. Starting to get a theme here. Tostitos. Funyuns. Stacy's Pita Chips - who we've featured on the show before.

Yep. Talked about Stacy's in a previous episode.

If you actually pull up a visual representation of all the brands that PepsiCo - which is their parent company - owns, it's astounding.

Yeah, I don't know how they keep all those plates spinning!&nbsp;

As a business, at some point when you have - if you have too much of your own owned entities competing in the same space. It's got to be eating into their market share.

They sure do. One of my favorite commercials of the Super Bowl was the Lay's commercial "Golden Memories" with Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd.

You know, it's funny as we talked about nostalgia being heavily featured, this ad's called "Golden Memories".&nbsp;

"Lays brings back so many good memories." "Remember our road trip in 97?" "Our first real heart-to-heart." "I've never seen any of your movies?" "Not even the ones we were in together?"

Like, what is the takeaway here?&nbsp;&nbsp;

The takeaway is Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen are funny and they're friends and therefore you should buy Lay's Potato Chips.&nbsp;&nbsp;

That's right. Frito-Lay, like GM, didn't just toss a couple of TV spots on there for their brand. They did a ton of pre-promotion for the Super Bowl leading a month in advance with Megan Thee Stallion.

I loved that ad because, what was really cool about it watching it retroactively now, is it's her walking up to shoot a Super Bowl commercial. Yeah, like do you have any allergies? To sloths? Crocodiles? Which is the other ad they had for Doritos Cheetos. There's a Flaming Hot Cheetos ad. But it was pre-promoting with the date of the Super Bowl. And you're like, "What the hell's this?" And then you see the Super Bowl ad? I don't know if anyone remembers the other commercial. But how cool is that? They were already nodding to the creative. They knew they were going to play the Super Bowl a month in advance - just for shits and giggles.

GM vs. FRITO-LAY: Brands Bring Their A-Game To The Big Game