We all witnessed the Chobani bear get aggro in his quest for yogurt, and watched Arnold play ping pong in shorts and a wig in that $3 million Bud Light spot. But the real advertising opportunity of Super Bowl XLVIII was brands nailing down the big win on social media. Everyone from Pizza Hut to M&Ms was trying for that timely tweet with viral potential.
Some brands like Cinnabon played it safe, harping on Oreo’s snappy “You can still dunk in the dark” tweet from Super Bowl 2013. But that was old news, and a stale approach. The real winner of Super Bowl XLVIII was the DiGiorno Pizza Twitter feed. To start things off, let’s take a look at DiGiorno’s hysterical live tweeting of the Super Bowl—the pizza chain was straight wildin':
YO, THIS GAME IS LIKE A DIGIORNO PIZZA BECAUSE IT WAS DONE AFTER TWENTY MINUTES #SuperBowI #SuperSmack #DiGiorNOYOUDIDNT
— DiGiorno Pizza (@DiGiornoPizza) February 3, 2014
YO, IT’S APPROPRIATE THAT IT’S GROUNDHOG DAY BECAUSE YOUR TEAM IS IN A DEEP HOLE #DiGiorNOYOUDIDNT #SuperBowl
— DiGiorno Pizza (@DiGiornoPizza) February 3, 2014
YO, YOUR TEAM REMINDS ME OF DELIVERY PIZZA. TOOK ALMOST THREE HOURS TO GET WHERE IT’S SUPPOSED TO GO #DiGiorNOYOUDIDNT
— DiGiorno Pizza (@DiGiornoPizza) February 3, 2014
Then there was M&Ms, which put out a reenactment of the touchdown. This was another win, even if it was a Vine.
Domino’s attempt at winning Super Bowl social media was pretty cheesy, but still kind of funny.
Our delivery drivers have more completions than some #QBs tonight. #justsayin #SuperBowl — Domino’s Pizza (@dominos) February 3, 2014
From the get-go, we had high hopes for the Budweiser Puppy. The little dude came out the gates a hero with a gibberish tweet from the Bud account.
pkkpavllkqwjlwm (Translation: I’m tweeeeting. Tweeeeeeeeeeting. Tweeeeeeeeeeeting!) http://t.co/GDjD7QvI6z #BestBuds pic.twitter.com/G3oQEVgZy8 — Budweiser Puppy (@BudweiserPuppy) January 31, 2014
But the Bud Pup evolved into a huge troll trying to at message celebrities and piggyback on other people’s jokes. Here’s an example of trying way too hard for a viral smash:
You can still bark in the dark #PuppyBowl #BestBuds — Budweiser Puppy (@BudweiserPuppy) February 2, 2014
So great @BrunoMars & @ChiliPeppers! I think all you’re missing is @TheKeyboardCat. #BestBuds #SuperBowl #SuperBowlHalftime — Budweiser Puppy (@BudweiserPuppy) February 3, 2014
In the category of complete failures, there was Pizza Hut’s weak pun accompanied by a straight-up lie. Both teams CAN NOT WIN.
Both winners, any way you slice it. #keepitclassy — Pizza Hut (@pizzahut) February 3, 2014
@pizzahut no. One team wins and one team loses. Do you not understand sports? — RAD (@_raddish) February 3, 2014
Then there was the biggest failure of Super Bowl XLVIII, which was Oreo’s fatal attempt to resurrect the blackout Tweet:
Hey guys…enjoy the game tonight. We’re going dark. #OreoOut — Oreo Cookie (@Oreo) February 2, 2014
So, what did we learn from this little recap? If you’re manning a big food brand’s Twitter, you best bring your A-game to the Super Bowl. Now, please, enjoy this GIF of the 66-year-old former Governor of California, courtesy of Bud Light.