3 worst commercial disasters in Super Bowl history
The Super Bowl is the most important game of the NFL season, as well as the biggest sporting event of the entire year. Seemingly, everyone tunes in for the game, including those that don't even necessarily care about football.
Almost every year, this is the most-watched individual television program. This includes every category, not just sports, as the game often captures massive public attention.
The basically guaranteed epic viewership numbers during each Super Bowl has created a massive demand over commercial space. Commercials are sold to various companies for millions of dollars for just a 30-second spot during the game.
According to Front Office Sports, every year since 1995 has featured ad spot prices exceeding a million dollars. Super Bowl LVII is reportedly on track to set a new record of $7 million for a 30-second commercial.
A powerful Super Bowl commercial can be remembered for years.
Some, however, have been remembered for the wrong reasons — including one so bad that a brand sued the ad agency.
A look back at some of the worst commercial disasters in Super Bowl history and how they played out ⤵️
The insane prices are a product of the amount of basically guaranteed eyes that will see them. The commercials during the game can have a major impact on the future of the specific company the ad is for. A successful commercial can lead to significant profit increases. However, a failed commercial or controversial message can have an adverse effect.
While a multi-million dollar investment for a commercial is often a profitable venture, a failed design has sometimes caused trouble for the company that purchased it.
The goal of the commercials is to draw as much attention as possible, while also avoiding negative backlash. Here are three of the biggest flops in Super Bowl commercial history.
#1 - FTX - Super Bowl LVI
The FTX commercial during the game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams has become ironic, considering the demise of the company over the last year. Comedian Larry David is shown being skeptical about classic inventions, such as the light bulb, before eventually being offered FTX.
David declined to join FTX during the commercial, stating that it won't work and he's never wrong. Apparently, he was right in the commercial. The 23 billion dollar company went completely bankrupt less than a year later. Their founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was also arrested on fraud charges.
FTX has now been sued in multiple different cases for falsely promoting its wealth and misleading its customers. They have also been sued for misapproprating funds. Ironically, the money they spent on the commercial is one of the expenses being called into legal question.
#2 - Nationwide - Super Bowl XLIX
When the New England Patriots faced off against the Seattle Seahawks, Nationwide was one of the many companies to purchase commercial time. They have featured commercials during several Super Bowls, but their spot in XLIX is one of the most memorable, for the wrong reasons.
Nationwide received a ton of public criticism for their strange commercial featuring a dead child. Trying to raise awareness for dangerous household accidents, they depicted the dead child thinking about things he would never get to experience.
The assumed point they were attempting to make was that insurance could help prevent such accidents, but using a dead child was an odd choice that backfired as many were disgusted by the commercial.
#3 - Just For Feet - Super Bowl XXXIII
When the Denver Broncos faced off against the Atlanta Falcons, Just For Feet aired a commercial during the game that was immediately labeled as racist. In an extremely strange choice of story, the commercial showed two white men in a Hummer chasing down a barefoot Kenyan runner in Africa.
The runner was shown being drugged and knocked out, but when he regained consciousness, he was wearing brand new white shoes, to which he immediately protested.
The commercial was so controversial that Just For Feet sued their ad agency, who also sued them back, as each was trying to point the blaming finger at the other for this horrific judgment call to air the commercial.