For the second time in three years, we had to watch the Super Bowl at an odd hour.
Two years ago, we were in London when my hometown Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl. The game didn’t start until 11:30 at night, and I’m not a night person. But fortunately, the game was on a local TV station and we were able to stay awake long enough to cheer the Eagles on to victory from our apartment (very quietly).
This year, we were (and still are) in Singapore for the Super Bowl. While I didn’t have as much of a vested interest in the outcome of this game, I was certainly rooting for Andy Reid, the coach of the Kansas City (Missouri) Chiefs because of his long association with the Eagles. Singapore is 13 hours ahead of East Coast Time, which meant the game was on at 7:30 Monday morning here. That’s more to my liking than 11:30 at night, but it was not on the TV in our apartment. So we found a local Irish pub (Muddy Murphy’s) that was showing the game, and we took a Grab (the Asian Uber) to the bar. It was nice to be surrounded by some people who cared about the game; most people in Singapore didn’t seem to know what the Super Bowl was, let alone when it was being played.
Anyway, part of what I like about the Super Bowl is the ads. I’ve written many, many times about how much I like ads. Super Bowl ads in the U.S. are like the Christmas ads in the U.K. – they are a big deal.
While I have not had a chance to watch all of the ads, there were two that I thought stood out from the others – the one with Bill Murray reprising his role in Groundhog (it helps to be a little familiar with the movie), and the one with Ellen Degeneres and Alexa.
And for once, my favories aligned with the majority of people.
USA Today runs an Ad Meter that ranks the commercials, and Bill Murray’s ad came in first with a score of 7.01 and Ellen’s ad came in seventh place (out of 62 ads) with a score of 6.40. However, in terms of total views, Ellen’s had the most views on YouTube, with 61 million, while Murray’s ad was in second with 49 million views.
In case you haven’t seen the ads, here they are:
If you’d like to read a much more insightful review of the best and worst ads from this year’s Super Bowl, here are links to Ray Taylor’s posts at Forbes:
Ray is a friend and colleague at Villanova and a renowned marketing expert when it comes to analyzing Super Bowl ads. Ray does have Bill Murray’s ad in his top five, but not the Alexa ad. However, I have to admit that I was not a fan of the ad he picked as his number one, but how could anyone not like what he picked for his number two – the Loretta ad by Google. Google is the undisputed champ at getting people to cry. I’d highly recommend reading his takes on the best and worst ads.
Finally, if you’re like me, you’re probably curious what ad came in dead last in the USA Today ad meter ranking.
That dubious distinction belongs to Donald Trump’s ad on Criminal Justice reform.
And to show that I’m being completely transparent here and not just picking on President Trump (who I am not a fan of), Michael Bloomberg’s ad came in at 60th. Once Cory Booker dropped out of the primary, Bloomberg became my top pick for the Democratic nomination. I’m actually hoping there is a Bloomberg-Booker ticket.
If there is such a ticket, hopefully, they can make a better ad…
*image from CNN
Borden's Blather 
I am not sure I agree with Mr. Taylor’s top pick either, although I thought it was certainly in the top ten. My favorite was Bill Murray also. That is the one that the next day I still remembered clearly. The Google ad was very moving and almost had me in tears, but it didn’t stick in my head. Glad you found somewhere homey to watch the game!
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I wonder if younger people (less than 30) enjoyed the Bill Murray ad, since they may not have gotten the Groundhog reference.
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I just realized you were watching American football, in an Irish pub, in Singapore. That just sounds surreal.
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as was having a Guinness at 9:30 in the morning!
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Bloomberg/Booker would be an interesting ticket. I think many of the dems who got into the presidential race were auditioning for a VP spot. It is good that you got to see the Super Bowl. It was a good game this year.
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I think the BB ticket has potential, but I know it is a long shot. and yes, it as a good Super Bowl. It wasn’t looking good for the Chiefs until halfway through the 4th quarter. Great comeback.
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I love the ads, too and thought there were. Few really good ones
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It must have been odd to watch a game under those circumstances. When it’s a sporting event I really want to watch, I try to avoid Super Bowl parties at someone else’s home. I want to enjoy the game, and the non-football fans that are there more for the socializing aspects may choose an inopportune moment to talk about what they put in their cheese dip.😜
I was happy for Andy Reid, too, but mostly it was great to have such a competitive and exciting game.
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I’m usually the same way; if I watch a game, I want to give my full attention to it. Fortunately, that’s how it was at the pub; the people there seemed to really want to be there for the game (why else would you go to a pub at 7:30 on a Monday morning! 🙂
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I did t know the adverts were that important. It explains why the game takes so long.
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the ads, and the halftime show!
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While I loved cheering for the Chiefs (especially for Patrick Mahomes), I was not a fan of the halftime show. I was glad we didn’t have teenagers. Talk about soft porn….. Thanks for your take on the ads. We also loved the Bill Murray ad and Ground Day is one of my husband’s faves. Glad you were able to GRAB your way to a pub!
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the halftime show has had mixed reactions. I didn’t pay too much attention; I was too focused on my Guinness 🙂
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