🏉 The Truth Behind The Super Bowl

Patrick Mahomes may have been the best-paid player in the Super Bowl after his $164,000 paycheck…

But his paycheck was not the highest payout of the night…

Was it Usher for his halftime show?

Nope. He was paid $0 to do it.

Was it the NFL?

Nope. They made about $600 million.

The real winner was CBS TV Network, who made an estimated $712 million to host the Super Bowl. 

CBS charged $7 million for every 30-second commercial slot.

That’s:

• $233,333K per second

• 5.7 cents for every viewer (123 million estimated viewers)

• 2.8 cents per eyeball (assuming everyone has 2)

Here are the top 5 commercials from last Sunday, and the 3 best converting Super Bowl commercials of all time (and how I’d rate them).

Here’s what we got for ya:

• 📝 The Method

• 🎬 Top 5 Super Bowl Ads Of 2024

• 💰Top 3 Super Bowl Ads Of All Time

Read Time: 4 min 37 sec

📝 The Method

Each Super Bowl commercial will receive a score based on these 5 factors:

#1 - The Hook. Does it catch the viewer’s attention? Or more importantly, does it catch the right viewers' attention?

#2 - Comedy/ Emotion. Is it funny or not? Do I feel emotionally moved?

#3 - Product Desirability. Do I need to buy the product/ service? Am I running to the nearest computer or store to be the first in line?

#4 - Attention Retention. A great hook is only half the battle.

#5 - The CTA/ Offer. How well do they convert eyeballs to dollars? Is there a new product? A new deal? Urgency?

Bonus Points: Celebrity appearances.

Let’s get it.

Looking for visuals and charts, rather than words, to understand the daily news?

We explain the latest business, finance, and tech news with visuals and data. 📊

All in one free newsletter that takes < 5 minutes to read. 🗞

Save time and become more informed today.👇

Click here to sign up for free.

🎬 Top 5 Super Bowl Ads Of 2024

Every year I check USA Today’s Super Bowl Ad meter to see the ad ratings of the year.

This year over 160,000 people voted on their favorite ad.

Here are the top 5 and my ratings.

(PS - If you haven’t seen one, click the image to watch the full commercial!)

#1 - “Like a Good Neighbaaa” by State Farm

Profit Snack Score: 8

Hook - The best hook of the Super Bowl for sure.

Comedy - Absolutely. Seriously, I’ll never say ‘neighbor’ the same again.

Plus it had Arnold Schwarzenegger & Danny DeVito. But State Farm missed a crucial step…

They’re missing a strong CTA. Yes, it was funny and engaging…

But I don’t feel motivated to visit their website or buy insurance.

#2 - Dunkin’ ‘The DunKings’ by Dunkin’ Donuts

(For those who don’t know, this is a play on the Sad Ben Affleck meme).

Profit Snack Score: 10

Hook? Jennifer Lopez.

Comedy? Every scene.

Product? Everyone’s drinking a Dunkin’ coffee

There was a small CTA at the end when Affleck mentions there’s a new drink named after him.

On Monday, The Affleck Drink sold out in 30% of Dunkin’ Donuts.

Need I say more?

#3 - Perfect 10: The Kia Big Game commercial

Profit Snack Score: 9

Not only did Kia nail the hook and engage us with a heartfelt story…

But the entire commercial revolves around the convince of owning a Kia EV9.

Driving on icy roads → The speaker in the back → The electricity powers the lights → etc

All we needed was a CTA like a Winter Sale or limited availability.

#4 - DON'T FORGET UBER EATS

Profit Snack Score: 9.5

This Uber Eats ad checked out in every category but the one that really matters…

A CTA.

So why did I give it a 9.5?

Because I don’t think Uber Eats was optimizing for people to use the app ASAP.

I don’t know about you…

But I had no idea they could deliver flowers or alcohol. Two things someone might forget on Valentine’s Day and need in a pinch.

#5 - Hard Knocks: A Dove Big Game Film

Profit Snack Score: 10

Although it’s a different spin on Super Bowl ads…

I think Dove did a 10/10 job capturing and maintaining attention.

Plus the CTA was very clear after they sparked a sense of duty in viewers - “Join the Body Confident Sports program.”

So, these were the top 5 commercials for this Super Bowl.

Let’s look at the top 3 of all time.

💰Top 3 Super Bowl Ads Of All Time

#1 - “Alexa Loses Her Voice” (2018)

Profit Snack Score: 10

In 2018, this ad was the most viewed video ad on YouTube. 6 months after it aired, Amazon’s head of marketing said it boosted Amazon sales by over 300%.

And on top of that…

It broke the record for ‘most celebrities ever seen in a Super Bowl ad.’

#2 - “Skittles Settle It” (2015)

Profit Snack Score: 7

This one made the top 3 not because the ad is great…

But because this Skittle ad made history with the highest ROI ever seen on a Super Bowl ad.

How?

In a 2015 study, a company tracked the total amount of mentions each company received online after the Super Bowl, and divided them by the amount they spent.

The result - Skittles had the lowest costs per mention which has yet to be topped by any other ad.

#3 - Apple Macintosh Computer (1984)

Profit Snack Score: 9

If you can get past the fact that it’s 40 years old…

This ad is pure marketing genius.

The first Mac had just come out 2 weeks earlier, a direct competitor to IBM.

And not only did this ad convince the US that Apple was the new and improved IBM replacement…

But Apple said they received over $150M worth of free airtime via news and TV replays.

Three months after the 1984 Super Bowl, Apple sold $155M worth of Macintoshes.