Is the truly iconic Super Bowl spot a thing of the past?

If this year's Super Bowl spots taught us anything, it's that dollars for celebrity talent remain a steady line item in marketing budgets for big brands. But few used those dollars wisely...effectively...elegantly...take your pick. For those who did...*chef's kiss. The execution was enthralling and we'll likely keep talking about those spots for years to come. But it's not all about a familiar face (that comes with a 7- or 8-figure price tag). So much more comes into play to develop solid creative for the biggest night in securing eyeballs across America.

We invited a couple friends of DIEM to look at some of the more prominent spots that were released in advance of the game to evaluate them on 4 dimensions:

• Resonance: Does this creative deliver a message or call-to-action that an audience would be receptive to receiving current day?
• Virality: Does this creative inspire people to share it with their personal networks – even if only out of anger or surprise?
• Messenger Relevance: From official employee spokespersons to paid influencers to animated characters to the “voice of God,” does the messenger used to connect with the audience have a desirable impact?
• Impression: Will this creative inspire us to either talk about it or its message 5, 10, 20 years from now? Does this creative have the potential to be considered “classic” in the realm of marketing? Has this brand generated a “market moving moment”?

Who's going to get judgey with us?

Meet Preeti Wali, corporate comms, brand marketing and advertising guru extraordinaire, and Josh Cheung, freelance creative director. We look like a United Colors of Benetton ad...but one that would've probably driven more engagement than some spots we saw Sunday night!

Who did it right?

CeraVe won the big night, and the weeks beforehand

This is how you incorporate a celebrity into your creative and take a spot from a forgettable ad to a buzzworthy brand campaign. The cleverness behind the story meshed seamlessly with Michael Cera's hesitant charm to create a fun "conspiracy" that people have been talking about for weeks, and marketers are sure to be talking about for years to come. The backstory of how the team that pulled this spot together turned an insight on Reddit into insanely bright execution is dope. This spot overwhelmingly blew away every other contender among those we evaluated.

Mayo Cat dominates

Hellman's did what it had to do and produced a memorable spot with just the right amount of celebrity lift. And the feline talent easily remained the star of the ad. The production quality here was spot on. In the words of our panel: "Smart, catchy and fun. This is a win."

Rockin' Like Walken

Christopher Walken is consistently a valuable get for any brand. He's respected yet whimsical and just "odd" enough to turn any spot into comedic gold – and any Super Bowl marketer can tell you that humor is a paramount consideration for bringing an ad to life. In addition to the great acting throughout, the subtle dig at competitors is what really puts this spot over the edge. As Preeti commented: "Who doesn't love to imitate Christopher Walken; this was a fun one with a great tie in at the end to being the best and everyone else just being imitations."

Who faltered?

Maybe Drumstick just went over our heads...🤔?

But we'd guess not. This spot, featuring B-list talent and no really cohesive story, seemed like the ROI would be close to nada. As Natasha chimed in, "This does nothing for me – I feel like I'm missing something. Especially when I see Eric Andre." Going for weird in a Super Bowl ad is always welcome, but there also needs to be some element of sense to it, right? This is one example of how not to spur viral by leaning into oddity.

Booking.com, Booking.no

30 Rock is BELOVED among anyone who enjoys clever, sometimes cutting comedy. So when we saw the theme and talent Booking.com had lined up, this one seemed like a slam dunk. But, alas, the spot fell flat and seemed almost incomplete. In our individual ratings, we all described initial love for the idea, but quickly did a 180, with words like "bland" popping up in the feedback. (And WTF was Glenn Close doing here?!?) In the words of Natasha: "A solid reference to a show culturally relevant to Booking's target audience. No Alec Baldwin or Tracy Morgan tho? Bye."

We wanted better for you, Budweiser

A couple of us were really torn on this one, but this spot ended up rating among the lowest on our list. We knew that some advertisers were really going to try to serve up an American feel-good moment, and this one came close. The horses, the dog, the storyline...all fair and a little charming. Among ourselves, we described the creative as "authentic to the brand." But also we felt like this was too expected with one of us commenting, "Back to their safety blanket." This one was all the more surprising because we know Budweiser can do 10x better.

Celeb or no celeb, this year's variety of ads and marketing campaigns kinda flatlined. Some, like DoorDash, tried to go interactive. But we need bigger, bolder ideas if plays like that are going to catch fire. Honorable mention to Oikos though. The team there clearly pays attention to what's going on in the pop culture zeitgeist: the decision to pull in Shannon Sharpe (who's on the tongue of most of Black America right now) and deliver such a clean nutrition message that didn't feel clunky was fairly artful.

We saw several displays of creative genius for Super Bowl LVIII, but not enough to rewrite the history books. There's always next year, 🤷🏼

Which spot caught your attention during the Super Bowl, for better or for worse? Let us know by hitting us at DIEMcomments@gmail.com.