The Big Game Spot
Client: Pizza Hut
Ah the Super Bowl. It’s the one day of the year where advertisers have a truly captive audience of people anxiously awaiting the commercial break. And so when Pizza Hut came to us to concept a Super Bowl spot as part of their NFL sponsorship package, we wanted to make sure we made the most out of that captive audience.
The Research
The ads are just as important as the game itself. And to many, they’re even more important.
76% of Super Bowl viewers cite ads as a reason for watching, with 30% citing ads as a major reason for watching, and 8% saying they’re the only reason they’re tuning in.
With that importance comes a level of fandom not normally seen for commercials.
This is the only occasion where people will actively seek out the ads on YouTube before they officially air on TV or engage in water cooler chats the next day about which ads were the best.
With that fandom comes an insider knowledge normally reserved for ad professionals.
People not only know how much the ads cost (a popular topic for news articles and water cooler chats), they also know some of the strange rules - like how brands aren’t allowed to say “Super Bowl” and instead have to say “Big Game”.
The Insight: The Super Bowl is one of the only occasions where even non-ad folks know the weird rules commercials have to follow. And as the official pizza sponsor of the NFL, Pizza Hut gets to follow a different set of rules.
The Strategy: Use the rules to our advantage.
The execution
“Big Game”