The Second Annual HBBIP Super Bowl Spectacular (HBBIP #71)

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Here at HBBIP, we pride ourselves on offering cutting-edge insights and of-the-moment stories, helping you stay equipped and in the know for whatever is happening out there in the world beyond your inbox. That’s why, more than one week after the biggest event in American sports, and therefore in the course of global affairs, we’re bringing you a definitive take on who carried the day…a while ago.

Good data takes time, folks. And good things come to those who wait.

We’ll do a full rundown of the commercials and victorious brands in a moment (even better things come to those who wait a little longer), but first I want to air a grievance. While I was not displeased to see the Chiefs get so thoroughly dismantled, I was annoyed about one thing: it ruined my jokes from my pre-Super Bowl newsletter!

As was the case for many analysts, I didn’t have “Eagles go up 34-0 and pants Patrick Mahomes in front of the whole world” on my bingo card. How badly did my predictions age? Let’s go to the tape:

“Did you see that one run from Barkley?”

• I think he managed to break a tackle in garbage time for a whopping seven-yard gain. Not Saquon’s finest hour, or mine, but hey, he’s a Super Bowl champion and I’m not. Anyway, go Giants ;___;

“And that one throw from Mahomes?”

• He sure did hit Cooper DeJean right in stride for a touchdown.

“Plus Jalen Hurts was there too, presumably!”

• Yes, he was there balling out and winning Super Bowl MVP. Mea culpa, Jalen. At least you got a cool commercial at the expense of doubters like me.

“Still, I’m not sure about that controversial call by the refs—it really bailed out the Chiefs at a key moment, huh? (Of all the dumb jokes in this paragraph, I am most certain that this one will come true.)”

• Finally, a hit! Everyone knows that the OPI on the Eagles’ opening drive was BS. And just think of the impact it had on the game: the Eagles could have won 47-22, but were instead forced to barely squeak by. The fix was in, folks!

So there you have it: if you’re going to bet on anything, bet on the refs being incompetent. Safest money in sports.

But I am not a football prognosticator: I am a guy who talks about brand data. So why don’t we get away from my lowlight reel and take a gander at something I’m actually qualified to speak about?

The Top Brand of All Time (of the Week): A Whole Lot of Them

It should come as no surprise that the Super Bowl is more than just the game. The true Super Bowl, some might say, is the game within the game—or, more accurately, the game in between the game. I’m referring to the commercials. Who wants to watch football? There are taxes to file and cheesy foodstuffs to eat and cars to purchase!

Well, I for one want to watch football. So let’s start there.

As we established last week, the Chiefs and Eagles ended January knotted up in terms of EMV and engagements. A refresher:

Chiefs vs. Eagles EMV 2024 - 2025 Season

As close as it gets!

Chiefs vs Eagles Engagement 2024 - 2025 Season

Slightly less than as close as it gets, but still close!

According to these metrics, we were headed for a narrow Eagles victory. As previously established, that did not occur. If we look at daily metrics from February 3 (the Monday before the Super Bowl) to February 10 (the day after), we find a discrepancy that was more reflective of the final score.

See if you can tell who won:

Chiefs vs Eagles EMV: 2/3 - 2/10

It’s a similar story with impressions:

Chiefs vs Eagles Impressions: 2/3 - 2/10

And an even more drastic departure for engagement (turns out people prefer talking about winners—who knew?).

Chiefs vs Eagles Engagements: 2/3 - 2/10

That’s a pretty astounding shift to see in real time, but it gets even more astoundinger when you consider content volume and creator count for each team:

Chiefs vs Eagles Post Count: 2/3 - 2/10

Here we can see the streams crossing: the Eagles heading toward an offseason full of glory, the Chiefs toward an offseason of questions and disappointment. But by far the starkest reversal came via each team’s creator count.

Chiefs vs Eagles Creator Count: 2/3 - 2/10

You can pinpoint the moment when the band hops off the wagon—I believe it happened about two seconds after the pick-six. 

With the NFL continuing its efforts to put creators at the forefront of its marketing campaigns, which I’ve covered before, expect to see even more creator involvement with both NFL initiatives and efforts from individual NFL teams soon.

But all that is the easy part. After all, you hopefully don’t need a blog post to tell you that the Eagles had a better February 9th and 10th than the Chiefs. The brands, the brands: who won? That’s what you’re here for. And that’s what’s here for you.

Here are the Super Bowl brands that, per our metrics, made the biggest splash on social media on Super Bowl Sunday (all figures are for February 9th on CreatorIQ’s U.S. creator panel). Lest you accuse me of playing favorites, I want to once again reiterate that we’re just going off the numbers, rather than subjective metrics like ad quality or personal preference. For the record, I was not overly impressed with the commercials this year. Unless you were a CreatorIQ client, in which case I thought your ad was creative and hilarious, and dare I even say moving—great job!

Top 10 Super Bowl Brands

Top 10 Super Bowl Brands by Impressions

Top 10 Super Bowl Brands by EMV

Top 10 Super Bowl Brands by Engagements

Our metrics paint a pretty consistent—and unsurprising—picture. The NFL continues its dominant streak of 59 Super Bowl victories in a row, though I’m sure the NBA is going to sneak up and claim the crown one of these days. Meanwhile, I’ve already gone over the details for our friends the Eagles and Chiefs. Apart from that locked-in Top 3, we’ve got five other brands that appear in the top 10 in every category:

• Tubi
• Uber
• Poppi
• Google
• Dunkin’

Along with another three brands that, much like the Chiefs, cracked two leaderboards but failed to complete the hat trick.

• Hellmann’s
• Stella Artois
• Uber Eats

So as to once again avoid allegations of favoritism, let’s run through these brands in alphabetical order:

Dunkin’

I know I said I’d avoid allegations of favoritism, but I do want to point out that a lot of people, your writer included, enjoyed this ad last year. Even if the Dunkings didn’t quite soar to the same heights this year—as we’ll soon see, Matt Damon was busy with other projects—the Ben Affleck-fronted boy band returned reloaded with celebrities, including Casey Affleck, Jeremy Strong, Bill Belichick, and a pleasant young woman whom I can only assume is Bill Belichick’s granddaughter. But that’s not all: comedian and social media star Druski was also there (in the background), proving that creators are playing an ever-larger role in mainstream pop culture.

Dunkin Engagements by Date 

While Dunkin’ saved its biggest day for the game itself, we saw fluctuations throughout the week as different layers of the ad’s star-studded cast were revealed. Who can guess the mysterious figures that will appear in what will surely be the third installment of the DunKings saga next year? And what has Mark Wahlberg been up to lately, anyway?

Google

You might have heard of this brand before—they’re the brand that always tries to make people cry during the Super Bowl. This time, the Feels came via a heartwarming journey through one man’s parental ineptitude, as framed via him asking a superintelligent computer-robot various questions about how to keep his child alive. We’re really living in the future now.

Google Impressions by Date 

Google is the rare brand that does less well as Super Bowl week wears on: partially because its commercial for Gemini AI debuted early, partially because it’s already operating at such a high baseline that other brands essentially just steal its spot. Nonetheless, the tide was high enough for Google to remain a top brand on Super Bowl Sunday. Don’t believe it? Try searching it online.

Hellmann’s

Look, I’m sorry, but mayonnaise has no place on a pastrami sandwich—not even on the same table. Granted, Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal appear to be chowing down on turkey, a notoriously dry deli meat, so sure, a dab or dollop of mayo might be called for with that. But I hope they cut Katz’s a nice check, because the whole notion of Hellmann’s being there is just odd, and nobody goes to Katz’s to order a turkey sandwich, or at least they shouldn’t. Oh right, Sydney Sweeney was in this commercial, too.

Hellmann's Impressions by Date

Despite the gripes of curmudgeons like me—a statement which could really be appended to every sentence I’ve ever written—Hellmann’s absolutely crushed it on Super Bowl Sunday, as evidenced by the above chart. Because if there’s one thing America loves even more than nostalgic celebrity retreads, it’s overloaded sandwiches.

Poppi

Speaking of overloaded sandwiches, you know what would pair nicely with the Deeply Cursed pastrami/mayo combo, while also getting your gut health back to normal? A crisp, refreshing, low-sugar probiotic soda! 

I’ve written about Poppi before, because they’re one of the savviest brands out there in terms of strategies for new and emerging social media channels. They’re also a very of-the-moment brand: the probiotic soda space is booming, and about as 21st Century as an industry can get. With those factors in mind, Poppi’s presence at the Super Bowl, amid all of these global legacy brands, represents a changing of the guard.

One other thing I like about Poppi? They put creators front-and-center in their ads, including on the world’s biggest stage. None other than Alix Earle starred in the commercial, while creators were also key to Poppi’s promotional efforts, which did generate a little controversy from the corners of the internet who like to complain about things…which might just be the internet at large.

Poppi launched its commercial, and entered the newscycle, on February 5th. Or could you not tell?

Poppi Impressions by Date

Poppi Engagements by Date

Poppi hopes that it doesn’t stay in the news cycle much longer, though clearly the bulk of the current viral moment came from the campaign itself.

Stella Artois

Technically, David Beckham and Matt Damon are creators, in that they both create things (goals, movies, memories). But they are a far cry from Alix Earle, and Stella Artois is a far cry from a probiotic soda. Yes, we’re back in the realm of traditional Super Bowl advertisements—celebrities, athletes, beer—and this year Stella cleaned up.

Stella Artois EMV by Date

Along with a traditional advertisement and traditional spokespeople, Stella Artois also displayed a traditional trajectory in the lead up to the Super Bowl, peaking on gameday after a sizable trough beforehand. Between the DunKings last year and Stella this year, is Matt Damon emerging as a Super Bowl ad kingmaker? And does he have a favorite brand of probiotic soda?

Uber/Uber Eats

While Uber and Uber Eats rose in tandem, the brand without the “eats” in it—you know, the one with the cars that take you places, rather than taking your burrito places—was on a level above its culinary counterpart.

Uber and Uber Eats Engagements by Date

Both brands peaked early, but stuck around through the day of the Super Bowl to score strong numbers on February 9th. After all, wings don’t fly themselves directly to your door.

Both brands benefited from one of the starriest roster in all of Super Bowl commercial history: Matthew McConaughey (who apparently just does Super Bowl commercials now), Kevin Bacon (zero degrees of separation on this one), Greta Gerwig (Ladybird fans watch the Super Bowl too), Martha Stewart (she must have the same agent as McConaughey), Charli XCX (wings are brat), and Hot Ones host Sean Evans (where were you when I needed you, Sean?).

So yeah, with all that star power, there’s a reason why Uber ranked only behind the NFL, the Super Bowl teams (though I feel like even Uber could have beaten the Chiefs), and…

Tubi

Some of my more literate readers might have noticed that we’ve broken alphabetic order just now. I wanted to close with Tubi because the brand’s success provides yet another example of something I got wrong last week, when I profiled Peacock. Let’s go back to the tape once again:

“Sorry, Fox. I guess it wasn’t meant…Tubi.”

Well, all my wordplay aside, it turns out that when your platform hosts the Super Bowl, it does see something of a benefit. Case in point:

Tubi Engagements by Date

And is that not a great note to end on, folks? Here we have our only brand to continue improving even after the Super Bowl, imparting a wonderful lesson about resilience and growth.

In other words, I guess it was meant Tubi after all.

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