# Social Bowl: Social Media’s Winners And Losers Of Super Bowl 50

- Link: https://chatterblast.com/blog/social-bowl-social-medias-winners-and-losers-of-super-bowl-50/
- Published: 2016-02-08T17:54:58-05:00
- Author: chatterblastteam

The Super Bowl is a weird event.  Last year, an [estimated](http://www.statista.com/statistics/216526/super-bowl-us-tv-viewership/)**
114.4 million people watched the Super Bowl**.  With a population of 318.9 million,
that means that over **_one third_** of Americans were tuned into their television
sets watching the New England Patriots take down the Seattle Seahawks.

The NFL is popular, but not _that_ popular.  Probably half of that 114 million aren’t
even football fans.  It’s just become such a cultural thing that really everyone
watches—whether it’s because they actually want to watch the game, just because 
it’s something everyone else is doing and they want to join the party, or… of course…**
_the commercials_**.

Everyone just **_looovvves_** the Super Bowl commercials.  That’s why a 30-second
spot during the game [can run a brand up to](http://fortune.com/2015/08/06/super-bowl-ad-cost/)**_
$5 million_**.  It’s insane.  Especially considering the fact that, nowadays, whenever
someone is engaged in such a cultural event, they’re likely checking their social
feeds to see the world’s commentary about what’s going on.

Of course the commercials are still important as part of the event—_it’s what half
of the social chatter is about anyway_—but with the explosion of social, there has
been a bit of a shift in recent years, with brands giving higher priority to their
online activity.

Let’s take a quick look back:

### **2011**

**Super Bowl XLV** marked the first year that Super Bowl advertisers dipped their
toes into incorporating social media into their campaign: this was done by including_#
hashtags_ in commercials.

_Clever!_

**Total number of tweets: **1.8 million

### **2012**

**Super Bowl XLVI** was dubbed the first “**_Social Media Bowl_**”, this Super Bowl
had most of its advertisers carrying out a complementary campaign on social media,
i.e. incorporating a social media advertising strategy into their traditional advertising
strategy. **Madonna**‘s [halftime show also generated](http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1054671-super-bowl-halftime-show-2012-twitter-reacts-to-madonnas-performance)
more than **862,000** social-media comments, while there were **985,000** social-
media comments specifically related to Super Bowl commercials.

**Total number of tweets: **13.7 million.

### **2013**

With **Super Bowl XLVII**, affectionately known as “**_The Blackout Bowl_**” due
to the [infamous power outage](http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/story/0ap1000000134895/article/superdome-power-outage-delays-super-bowl-xlvii)
at the Superdome, came one of first instances of clever viral marketing on social
media. During the 34-minute blackout, **Oreo** [famously tweeted](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/oreos-super-bowl-tweet-dunk-dark_n_2615333.html)
its “_You Can Dunk In The Dark_” tweet—drawing over **_15k retweets_**.

> Power out? No problem. [pic.twitter.com/dnQ7pOgC](http://t.co/dnQ7pOgC)
> — Oreo Cookie (@Oreo) [February 4, 2013](https://twitter.com/Oreo/status/298246571718483968)

**Total number of tweets: **24.1 million

### **2014**

“_If you build it, they will come_” would be an appropriate motto to sum up **Super
Bowl XLVIII**. Following the viral sensation **Oreo** delivered on Twitter during
Super Bowl 47, many brands were out to try and capture that same viral magic. Some
top moments included **JC Penny**’s [many misspelled tweets](http://digiday.com/brands/jc-penny-super-bowl-twitter-mittens/)
and **Hillary Clinton**’s [sly dig](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/02/02/hillary-clinton-super-bowl-twitter/5171833/)
at **FOX**, earning over 50,000 retweets.

> Toughdown Seadawks!! Is sSeattle going toa runaway wit h this???
> — JCPenney (@jcpenney) [February 3, 2014](https://twitter.com/jcpenney/status/430134469274501120)

 

> Who kkmew theis was ghiong tob e a baweball ghamle. [#lowsscorinh](https://twitter.com/hashtag/lowsscorinh?src=hash)
> 5_0
> — JCPenney (@jcpenney) [February 2, 2014](https://twitter.com/jcpenney/status/430125700608061440)

 

> It’s so much more fun to watch FOX when it’s someone else being blitzed & sacked!
> [#SuperBowl](https://twitter.com/hashtag/SuperBowl?src=hash)
> — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) [February 3, 2014](https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/430154695860953088)

 

**Total number of tweets: **24.9 million

### **2015**

Last year’s Super Bowl  was the year that brands and advertisers quickly learned
the importance of having a social media strategy _going into_ the Super Bowl.

> After [#DeflateGate](https://twitter.com/hashtag/DeflateGate?src=hash), I no longer
> trust balls that aren’t mine. [pic.twitter.com/s50vOCKMfd](http://t.co/s50vOCKMfd)
> — BarkBox (@barkbox) [February 1, 2015](https://twitter.com/barkbox/status/562026540557664257)

> Everyone’s mouth right now: [pic.twitter.com/cZjfD42kgK](http://t.co/cZjfD42kgK)
> — Cheerios (@cheerios) [February 2, 2015](https://twitter.com/cheerios/status/562083246876684289)

Being a year where many brands tried to pull emotional heartstrings, we all remember
the unforgettable **Nationwide** ad receiving serious backlash on social media that
the insurance brand was completely unprepared for. Rival **State Farm** [brilliantly counteracted](http://www.cnbc.com/2015/02/02/social-media-lessons-learned-from-super-bowl-xlix.html)
by opting to run a promoted tweet in Twitter users’ streams, touting fire safety
and prevention tips.

**Total number of tweets: **28.4 million

### **This year…**

 

Prepped to be the biggest year **_ever_** on social, brands had a lot of noteworthy
trends to take into account:

 * 73% or people (_and 83% of people ages 18-24_) who watched the Super Bowl this
   year were expected to have a secondary device on hand
 * Instagram offered **60-second** ads specifically for the Super Bowl (previously
   limited to 15 and 30 second clips)
 * Super Bowl 50 was the first year Snapchat’s [big partnership](http://fortune.com/2015/09/18/snapchat-nfl/)
   with the NFL
 * Similarly, the first ever year with Twitter’s live content-streaming tool [_Moments_](https://blog.twitter.com/2015/moments-the-best-of-twitter-in-an-instant-0)
   in action
 * Twitter has been designing custom emojis for brands, reportedly costing brands
   upwards of **_$1 million_** (_see _[_emoji marketing_](http://chatterblast.wpengine.com/blog/emojis-cant-stop-wont-stop/))

With the above in mind, here’s a quick look at some of the big **_winners _**and**
_losers_** on social media leading up, during, and after the (_surprisingly boring_)
game, that all-American institution that us red-blooded, true patriots call the 
Super Bowl:

### **Winner: **Mountain Dew.

Anyone (aka _everyone_) who tuned into last night’s broadcast knows that [**#puppymonkeybaby**](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23puppymonkeybaby&src=tyah)
won the night.  What in the world was that thing?  Not only was the commercial a
home run, but the surrounding social was what really helped knock it out of the 
park.

Before the game even started, #puppymonkeybaby’s [teaser](https://www.facebook.com/mountaindew/videos/10153875913201489/)
on Facebook had already generated up to **_11 million views_**.  Once the spot dropped
and generated over **_50,000 _**_tweets _in the first half of the game alone, Mountain
Dew came prepared to milk the hell out of it:

> And that….is a FIRST DOWN![#puppymonkeybaby](https://twitter.com/hashtag/puppymonkeybaby?src=hash)
> [#SB50](https://twitter.com/hashtag/SB50?src=hash) [pic.twitter.com/P2HhvloCxR](https://t.co/P2HhvloCxR)
> — Mountain Dew® (@MountainDew) [February 8, 2016](https://twitter.com/MountainDew/status/696512397994029056)

> First downs = ? to victory [#puppymonkeybaby](https://twitter.com/hashtag/puppymonkeybaby?src=hash)
> [#SB50](https://twitter.com/hashtag/SB50?src=hash) [pic.twitter.com/alMCKcpdgQ](https://t.co/alMCKcpdgQ)
> — Mountain Dew® (@MountainDew) [February 8, 2016](https://twitter.com/MountainDew/status/696517423067959296)

> FREE YARDS![#puppymonkeybaby](https://twitter.com/hashtag/puppymonkeybaby?src=hash)
> [#SB50](https://twitter.com/hashtag/SB50?src=hash) [pic.twitter.com/IrU5mPGJsn](https://t.co/IrU5mPGJsn)
> — Mountain Dew® (@MountainDew) [February 8, 2016](https://twitter.com/MountainDew/status/696522730309558272)

Weird wins.

### **Winner: **Esurance.

Esurance showed us that simplicity can still be king and that you don’t necessarily
have to overthink it to make some serious impact.

Literally all they did in their 30-second first quarter spot was tell viewers that
they could win up to **$1 million** by tweeting the hashtag [**#EsuranceSweepstakes**](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23EsuranceSweepstakes&src=tyah).

The result? **375,000 tweets** in the **first quarter **_alone._

Simplicity is king, but cold hard incentive is key.

### **Loser: **Facebook.

Facebook knows that Twitter is where every goes to tune into the conversation surrounding
these types of event, sports especially, so what did they do?  Launch [**_Sports Stadium_**](http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/01/facebook-sports-stadium/)
to try and compete with the rival platform.

Did anyone use it? Nope.

And ironically, everyone [went to Twitter](http://www.adweek.com/news/television/facebooks-sports-stadium-having-rough-super-bowl-169496)
to air out their thoughts about Facebook’s flop.

### **Winner: **Budweiser.

After winning Super Bowl 50, Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning said in, not one,
but _two _separate post-game interviews that he was “_gonna drink a whole lotta 
Budweiser tonight._”

Everyone watching, of course, [blew up Twitter](https://twitter.com/search?q=peyton%20paid%20to%20say%20budweiser&src=typd)
with their concerns that the beer company was paying him to say it. **_But_** according
to NFL league rules, active players aren’t allowed to represent alcohol companies.
So did they pay him?

> [@darrenrovell](https://twitter.com/darrenrovell) That is what we like to call“
> earned media” – PRICELESS.
> — Lisa Weser (@LisaWeser) [February 8, 2016](https://twitter.com/LisaWeser/status/696538103184433152)

Nope.  Earned media, baby.

### **Loser: **Doritos.

Doritos learned the hard way through their weird pregnancy/abortion-related spot
that, because of social media, you should really just stay away from anything that
could even relatively be perceived as controversial.

Abortion folks from both sides were [not pleased on the Internet](http://www.mediaite.com/online/pro-choice-group-denounces-doritos-super-bowl-ad-for-humanizing-fetuses/)
last night.  Neither were people who were just generally grossed out from the scene
depicted.

> oh my god never eating doritos again
> — Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) [February 7, 2016](https://twitter.com/SheaSerrano/status/696482680959963137)

### **Winner: **T-Mobile.

Not only did they quench the viral meme thirst of the Internet by dropping their“
Hotline Bling” commercial into our Twitter feeds days in advance, but they made 
the Internet go crazy _again_ with their Steve Harvey commercial, in which he pokes
fun at his own flops (_Miss Universe, anybody???_).

[Twitter loved it](https://twitter.com/search?q=steve%20harvey%20t-mobile&src=typd)
when it aired, and [Instagram loved it](https://www.instagram.com/p/BBgWdPfS0Dq/)
even more when it aired, **_in its entirety_**, as a full 30-second sponsored post
in our feeds.

### **Loser: **Donald Trump.

The ever-controversial Donald Trump [is great on social in some ways](http://chatterblast.wpengine.com/blog/wait-is-donald-trump-the-king-of-twitter/),
but other times he is clearly obnoxious.  Last night, he was the latter.

> So far the Super Bowl is very boring – not nearly as exciting as politics – MAKE
> AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
> — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [February 8, 2016](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/696514666843996160)

Don’t be a buzzkill.  Not everything needs to fit into your political agenda.

### **Winner: **Beyoncé.  _Duh?_

> Every time Beyoncé performs it adds five years to my life
> — Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) [February 8, 2016](https://twitter.com/AnnaKendrick47/status/696509283559538689)

> BEYONCE’S FULL PERFORMANCE RT TO SAVE A LIFE [https://t.co/N3vMHQEfvT](https://t.co/N3vMHQEfvT)
> — HBIC (@Princessofwifi) [February 8, 2016](https://twitter.com/Princessofwifi/status/696728313109340165)

> Beyoncé could have come out in an old sweatsuit and sang “on top of spaghetti”
> and people would still be like “TOUCH ME GOD”
> — Jared Logan (@JaredLogan) [February 8, 2016](https://twitter.com/JaredLogan/status/696728225163005953)

> Beyoncé: *breathes into the mic*
>  everyone: [pic.twitter.com/DqmGDLnGST](https://t.co/DqmGDLnGST)
> — Flriting (@TbhFlirting) [February 8, 2016](https://twitter.com/TbhFlirting/status/696727212855320576)

> I am in love with [@Beyonce](https://twitter.com/Beyonce) what a woman!!!!
> — Paloma Faith (@Palomafaith) [February 8, 2016](https://twitter.com/Palomafaith/status/696714432899125249)

_Aren’t we all?_

Overall, brands played it safe this year, opting for celebrity endorsements to grab
your attention over creative, clever, or thought-provoking ads, which in my opinion
made it easier for the latter to stand out.

A large majority of the ads seen on television were created with social media share-
ability in mind and the number one winner of that was obviously Esurance with the
straightforward approach of “tweet to win a sweepstakes.”

The overall winner of everything else was Beyoncé. She won the Super Bowl.

 

[⌊beyonce-SB50⌉⌊beyonce-SB50⌉[