The Definitive Grading of Super Bowl LV Ads

By Kyle Jelinek w/ Stew Redwine

As in years past, Oxford Road scored all the Super Bowl spots with Audiolytics™, our proprietary taxonomy for commercials, and the Top Ten List will probably surprise you.

It’s ok. We’re used to it.

Because a high score in Audiolytics™ doesn’t mean it will be the most liked or generate the most buzz or even capture the most purchase intent.

What it will do is capture the most purchases.

But all advertisers aren’t focused on their Audiolytics™ Score yet. Many who would have had spots in the Big Game opted out because they didn’t want to hit the wrong tone or in anticipation of lower than average viewership (the latter proving to be confirmed), while most were entirely invisible. On top of that, it was the least viewed Super Bowl since 2007, at a reported price tag of $5.5M per 30-sec spot (down $100k from last year).

Sure, we saw “The Boss” (who’s now a cowboy?) slinging unity and Jeeps, The Bud Light Knight die an untimely death… again, a guy standing (sitting) in his field singing about oat milk, and a perceived 5-sec hack into the system by Reddit. And just like that, nobody will be talking about the class of 2021 after this week.

That’s if we only look at the ads as entertainment. But if we look at them through the lens of Audiolytics™, some might just translate to sales. If you haven’t heard, Audiolytics™ is Oxford Road’s proprietary ad scoring system that measures an advertising message’s potential to drive sales by evaluating it on 9 Key Components and 71 Subcomponents. In short, Audiolytics™ is the measuring stick we use to ensure the messages we put into the marketplace are structurally sound for maximum performance. Here are the critical components of a great performance ad defined by the Audiolytics™ taxonomy for new readers.

#1 Setup – What is the problem you’re solving? Who are you solving it for?

#2 Solution – What is your solution to the problem?

#3 Positioning – How do you compare to the alternatives to your solution?

#4 Demonstration – How does it work?

#5 Substantiation – Why believe you?

#6 Offer – Will you be giving something extra for responding?

#7 Scarcity – How long is this offer available?

#8 Path – How do you get the product or service?

#9 Execution – What is the tone and feel of the ad?

Using this grading system, we’ve evaluated every ad from this year’s broadcast, and per usual, none of them scored a grade over 90% (which is the benchmark we here at Oxford Road use to ensure every ad we put in the marketplace is poised for success). There were, however, a few ads that came very close. They’re not the ads making headlines, but according to our data, we believe these ads have the best chance of driving actual performance for their brands. Not to toot our own horn, when this methodology predicted T-Mobile to have been the best ad in 2019’s Super Bowl, it turned out to be the most effective thing they ever did.

#10 Cutwater: Cut Out With Cutwater – Total Audiolytics™ Score – 69%

Everyone needs a cocktail on the go, right? Anheuser-Busch’s canned cocktail brand Cutwater Spirits’ first Super Bowl shows how fun alcoholism can be with hot people drinking cocktails in the mountains. But it hits the mark on Substantiation (Audiolytics™ Key Component #5) by showcasing that it was the most awarded canned cocktail. 

#9 Microban 24: Keep Killing Bacteria For 24 Hours – Total Audiolytics™ Score – 70%

Perhaps the most timely of the bunch was Clorox’s Microban ad because everything needs to be disinfected all of the time. This ad crushed it on Demonstration (Audiolytics™ Key Component #4) by showing how the product is used in practically every shot.

#8 T-Mobile: Adam Levine Sets Up Gwen and Blake – Total Audiolytics™ Score – 72%

First, this ad let the world know that nobody on The Voice can act. More importantly, we also learned that T-Mobile has more #1’s than any other 5G network. This is what we call Positioning ladies and gents (Audiolytics™ Key Component #3).

#7 Jeep – The Middle – Total Audiolytics™ Score – 73%

Perhaps the ad that made the most serious attempt at providing a positive message, Jeep, via Bruce Springsteen, nailed Execution (Audiolytics™ Key Component #9). While we didn’t know The Boss was a cowboy (and at the time didn’t know he was recently charged with a DUI), this ad’s message of unity was pitch-perfect for these times, “there’s hope on the road up ahead”.

#6 Mountain Dew – WIN $1MILLION! – Total Audiolytics™ Score – 80%

John Cena driving down the road in a watermelon-inspired convertible? It sounds weird, and it was. But Mountain Dew’s showing at this year’s Super Bowl had something few advertisers on the big game ever do, an Offer with a clear Path (Audiolytics™ Key Components #6 and #8). Just be the first to count and tweet the number of bottles in the ad, and win a million bucks! Sounds easy enough.

#5 Skechers – Skechers Max Cushioning  – Total Audiolytics™ Score – 82%

Tony Romo drives a monster truck, and his wife is the main character from The Princess and the Pea, but all of this ridiculousness didn’t stop this commercial from hitting our top 5. The spot nailed the Value Prop (Audiolytics™ Key Component #2) by showcasing how Skechers has maxed out the cushioning in their new line of shoes. Plantar fasciitis sufferers unite. 

#4 DraftKings – Fourth Quarter Prediction Challenge  – Total Audiolytics™ Score – 83%

Hey America, don’t just watch, play this little game and maybe win a million dollars. Like Mountain Dew, this ad has a great Offer and a Path plus a solid Setup (Audiolytics™ Key Component #1). For all of the degenerate gamblers out there, you can bet on sports legally from your phone, hooray!

#3 Scotts – Keep Growing – Total Audiolytics™ Score – 84%

This one has a lot going for it, like Martha Stewart, John Travolta, and Stanley from The Office all tending to garden duties. But its use of an Offer, Path, Positioning, and Execution drove this ad to the number 3 slot in our ranking.

#2 Rocket Mortgage – Certain is Better – Total Audiolytics™ Score – 84%

Tied with Scotts is Tracy Morgan as the spokesperson for Rocket Mortgage. The whole ad is a lesson in Positioning and Substantiation, all centered around the fact that with Rocket, you can “be certain”. The spot also gets high marks by providing a clear Path and Execution.  

#1 Paramount+ Expedition | Sweet Victory – Total Audiolytics™ Score – 87% 

Finally, we make it to the summit, and it shall be named Paramount. This suite of ads, while entertaining, also delivered the goods for almost every Audiolytics™ Key Component. It can be done. The only thing they were missing was an Offer and Scarcity, but it did so much else right, it took our number one spot. Had they added some kind of limited time offer for early streamers or a contest like Mountain Dew, this ad would have achieved over 90% in our grading. Bravo, Sir Patrick Stewart, bravo!

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And there you have it. The only Super Bowl commercial ranking that actually matters. To learn more about how Audiolytics™ can supercharge your creative to a level that would outperform every Super Bowl ad out there, reach out with an email, we’d love to help. 

Oh yeah, and Audiolytics™ just got an upgrade.

We’re now combining our 71 Subcomponents with a backend multi-variate testing technology so that you can run optimized ads across ALL channels based on real-time, in-market performance data. 

No more guessing. No more opinions. 

We will test keywords and phrases in hundreds of digital ad permutations to help you arrive at the best performing words.

It’s called “Audiolytics™ X.” Ahhh yeah.

For a FREE demo on how it all works, click here.