On Sunday, Super Bowl LVII glued 200 million eyeballs to screens all around the world as the Chiefs clipped the wings of the Eagles in Phoenix. It was one of those rare moments in time where people from every corner of the world tune in to a sports fixture and some of them actually look forward to the ad breaks and half-time show.
Yes, sports fans getting excited about a break-in play so that they can be sold a new razor or car insurance doesn’t happen often. So, Dark Horses thought they’d ask the least ‘advertisingy’ people they knew, their families!
For this unique experiment they roped in the creative director team of Adam Burns and Paco Lopez, specifically Adam’s Dad, David, and Paco’s wife, Maria, to give their honest reviews of this year's work, whilst also chipping in their two cents too.
For Adam’s Dad, they went all in on the beer sector, his favourite sector, and they gave Maria a more varied mixture.
Adam and David
Sam Adams: Your Cousin’s Brighter Boston
David: “This one was my favourite. I lived in New York when I was riding as a jockey in the US, so the jokes about the rivalry between the two cities made me laugh.”
Adam: “The gangsters dumping the trash “recycling, it takes all of us” is a brilliant little vignette, bravo.”
Bud Light
David: “I’ve never danced to hold music, although I do sometimes sing along. I feel like this one is for the young kids on TikTok, not for me.”
Adam: “I like the irreverence of this one and the performances feel real”
Michelob Ultra: New Members Day
David: “An advert about Caddyshack without Bill Murray or Chevy Chase doesn’t really make sense to me.
Adam: “Tapping into an insight that is very close to my heart, there are few better beers than a ‘golf course on a sunny day beer’, so it’s a yes from me. Odd that Serena is in two booze adverts, how did they let that happen?
Budweiser
David: “A bit boring, nothing really happened”
Adam: “If you go to the Superbowl without a celebrity in your ad then you need a good idea, this is lacking either.”
Coors Light, Miller Light, Blue Moon
David: “A beer advert about fighting is as true to life as you’ll get, I suppose. I liked this one the least.”
Adam: “Feels like ‘It’s a Tide Ad’ if it was made by a really cautious client. I also agree with my Dad, fighting in a booze ad feels a bit close to the bone.”
Paco and Maria
Squarespace: Adam Driver
Paco: “On this one, I probably like the concept ‘a website that makes websites’ more than the execution, to have multiple Adam Drivers is something that visually has been a bit overdone. But overall I think it’s a good ad.
Maria: “Too sophisticated to explain a product that is already a bit complicated”
Kia: Binky dad
Paco: “Great insight, good product demo, it's a good ad, maybe a bit expected in execution, as some of the scenarios are a bit cliche.”
Maria: “As a mother of two, I am probably biassed, but I LOVE IT”
Google: Fixed on Pixel
Paco: “This one is tricky to evaluate because I am more impressed by what the phone does than the ad itself. So I suppose that makes it a good ad.”
Maria: “It’s good but becomes repetitive, I don't need that many examples to explain the same thing”
Avocados from Mexico
Paco: “How the world would be if Eve, instead of an apple, grabbed an avocado from Mexico? Everything's better with avocados. It’s OK I’d say but just OK.
Maria: “Mmmmmeeehh, a bit of a cliché to use Adam & Eve, it’s too silly. I don't like it.
Doritos: Jack Harlow
Paco: “Doritos made me laugh again. I love the idea of a famous artist turning his career into a triangle player and becoming the most mainstream instrument in music. Silly but clever and funny. I would love to have that piece in my portfolio.
Maria: Very very original, I had a good time watching it. Now I fancy some Doritos.
