Editor's Note: A winner has been selected. You can find our updated story here. Our original story continues below.
You saw Usher perform at halftime, and watched the entire game from start to overtime -- but did you catch the 2024 Super Bowl commercial that offered one lucky viewer a goodie bag full of luxury prizes, including $50,000 towards a home down payment, a 2024 BMW All-Electric i5, and a literal diamond gemstone?
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It wasn't the hilarious Michael Cera CeraVe spot, or the new "DunKing" boy band fronted by Ben Affleck. Instead, one of the biggest talkers of the night came toward the end of the evening, beginning with an extremely long promo code from DoorDash.
"DoorDashâs ad, which came from Wieden+Kennedy Portland and aired in the fourth quarter, at first portrayed the code as pretty simple: DoorDash-all-the-ads-2024-promocode," an AdAge article reviewing the commercial said. "But it didnât end there."
The spot went on to show all the words in the very, very long promo code -- dozens and dozens of them -- which viewers could enter online at a specific DoorDash website for the chance to win a massive prize from Super Bowl advertisers, including everything from an all-expenses paid trip to anywhere in the world, to more than 700 packs of Reese's Big Caramel Cup.
According to AdAge, DoorDash formed dozens of partnerships in order to create the sweepstakes, and the advertisers were on board.
âWe got no nos,â chief marketing officer of DoorDash Kofi Amoo-Gottfried told AdAge in an interview. âEvery single brand we spoke to thought it was fun."
While a full list of the items can be found here, they include everything from a real Clydesdale saddle, to 288 bags of Peanut Butter M&Ms, to 30 pounds of mayonnaise. In a tweet, DoorDash said the winner will be contacted Monday.
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Despite the ad's popularity across social media, it didn't make one list of the "best ads" from the 2024 Super Bowl.
In a release, The Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Reviewclaimed the best ad of the big game was one from Google Pixel. The ad followed a blind man as he uses âGuided Frameâ â Googleâs A.I.-powered accessibility feature for the Pixel camera that uses a combination of audio cues, high-contrast animations and tactile vibrations â to take pictures of the people and places in his life.
âGoogle Pixel has clearly figured out the formula to success for advertising in the Super Bowl,â Derek Rucker, the Sandy & Morton Goldman professor of entrepreneurial studies in marketing and co-lead of the schoolâs Ad Review said in a release. âOnce again the company was able to demonstrate a new technology that enhances the user experience, while also connecting with viewers in an unexpected, emotional way.â
Other ads that scored high points in Kellog's review included Dove, CeraVe's Michael Cera spot, Mountain Dew, Doritos and Dunkin' Donuts. Ads that scored lower points, the review said, were spots from Temu, Squarespace, Homes.com and "He Gets Us."
Hereâs a rundown of what ad-watchers saw in Super Bowl LVIII.
Celebrities everywhere
Kris Jenner âtwists on itâ withOreo. The face behindPringlesâiconic mustache is unveiled to be none other than Chris Pratt. And Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez returned forDunkinâcameos, while Ice Spice sips onStarry.
In typical Super Bowl fashion, an array of companiesâ adverts were adorned by stars â often with numerous celebrities stuffed in a single spot.T-Mobile, for example, showcased big names like Bradley Cooper, Common, Jennifer Hudson, Laura Dern and âSuitsâ stars Gabriel Macht and Patrick J. Adams all in one ad for its âMagenta Statusâ customer appreciation program.
And the âSuitsâ homecoming didnât stop there. In another ad stuffed with celebrity cameos â including âJudge Judyâ Judy Sheindlin âe.l.f. cosmeticsbrought together Gina Torres, Rick Hoffman and Sarah Rafferty in a courtroom spoof.
NBC sitcoms had quite a few reunion moments during the game. In an Uber Eats ad, which shows people forgetting things so they rememberUber Eatscan deliver a wide variety of items, Jennifer Aniston seemingly forgets she ever worked with her âFriendsâ co-star David Schwimmer. And in an ad forMtn Dew Baja Blast, Aubrey Plaza says she can have a âBlastâ doing anything â including reuniting with her âParks and Recâ boss Nick Offerman as they fly on dragons.
Although star power in Super Bowl commercials isnât new, it did feel especially heightened this year.
âIt used to be that youâd have a celebrity pop up that would sort of be the spokesperson of the commercial,â said Virginia Commonwealth University Brandcenterâs Jessica D. Collins. âNow youâre seeing collaborations of celebrities... all in the same commercial, even (when) they have absolutely nothing to do with each other.â
Some brands can pull this off in a smart way â such as tapping into pop culture moments and inside jokes. But experts say that overdoing celeb cameos can take away from the impact of the ad. Viewers may remember what stars they saw in a commercial but not the brand name, University of Minnesota associate professor of marketing Linli Xu notes.
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Cuteness and nostalgia
It wouldnât be the Super Bowl without some furry friends.Budweiser, for example, brought back familiar characters to its gameday slot â which shows Clydesdales and a Labrador retriever team up to help the beer brand make the delivery. AndHellmannâsfeatured the âMayo Cat.â
But the yearâs ads werenât raining dogs and cats, noted Kimberly Whitler, marketing professor at the University of Virginiaâs Darden School of Business.
That didnât stop advertisers from searching for other ways into viewersâ hearts.
âEverything old is new again,â she said, pointing to successful Super Bowl ads or messages from the past making a return, includingETradeâs talking babies.
The 1980s also made a comeback, Whitler noted, with bothT-MobileandNerdsfeaturing the theme song from âFlashdance,â while the mullet was at the center ofKawasakiâsspot.
Some serious moments
Several other ads took more serious tones. Robert KraftâsFoundation to Combat Antisemitism, for example, ran an ad featuring Martin Luther King Jr.âs speechwriter Dr. Clarence B. Jones.
âHe Gets Usâalso returned to the Super Bowl this year. The campaign, which is backed by a group of wealthy Christian donors, aired two ads Sunday night.
The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will face in a highly anticipated Super Bowl LVIII matchup. Hereâs a look at some numbers behind the big game.