The #Hashtag Bowl, Game Over: Twitter Mentioned In 50% Of Super Bowl Commercials, Facebook Only 8%, Google+ Shut Out

The Baltimore Ravens just beat the San Francisco 49ers to win Super Bowl XLVII in a game that came down to the final seconds. But online, the social network showdown belonged to Twitter in a dominating win over Facebook, Google+ and all other social networks.

According to my count, Twitter was mentioned in 26 of 52 national TV commercials — that’s 50 percent of the spots that aired during CBS’ game coverage. Facebook was mentioned in only four of those commercials — about eight percent. Google+, which is reportedly the No. 2 social network in the world, wasn’t mentioned at all.

YouTube and Instagram were even mentioned once each, by Hyundai and Oreo, respectively.

This is a huge change from last year’s Super Bowl, when Twitter and Facebook both tied with only eight mentions out of a total of 59 counted national commercials.

So, for Twitter, the change from eight mentions to 26 is a gain of more than 300 percent, while Facebook saw a 50 percent drop in mentions.

Google+ was shut out last year, too.

Twitter Super Bowl Commercial Mentions

Here are the commercials that had some mention of Twitter — a hashtag, a logo, a URL or something else:

1. M&Ms – #betterwithmms
2. Audi – #braverywins
3. Hyundai – #pickyourteam
4. GoDaddy – #thekiss
5. Doritos – #doritos
6. Best Buy – #infiniteanswers
7. Disney Oz – #disneyoz
8. Fast & Furious movie – #fastandfurious
9. Toyota – #wishgranted
10. Doritos – #doritos
11. Calvin Klein – #calvinklein
12. Cars.com – #nodrama
13. Bud Light – #herewego
14. Hyundai Sonata – #epicplaydate
15. Volkswagen – #gethappy
16. Subway – #15yrwinningstreak
17. Subway – #FebruANY
18. Bud Light – #herewego
19. Subway – #FebruANY
20. Bud Light – #herewego
21. MiO Fit – #changestuff
22. Pistachios – #crackinstyle
23. Speed Stick – #handleit
24. Budweiser Clydesdales – #clydesdales
25. Tide – #miraclestain
26. Samsung – #thenextbigthing

Facebook Super Bowl Commercial Mentions

Here are the Super Bowl commercials that had some kind of Facebook mention:

1. Fast & Furious movie
2. Hyundai Sonata
3. Taco Bell
4. Mercedes-Benz

How I Counted Super Bowl Commercials & Social Mentions

With so many eyes on how brands market during the Super Bowl, you’re bound to see other mentions of commercial counts and social mentions — those may differ from mine. Here’s how I counted:

• I began counting after the opening kickoff of the game.
• I stopped counting when the clock reached 0:00 to end the game.
• I only counted nationally-sold commercials; those that were sold and aired by the local affiliate stations weren’t included because they’re bound to be different in each market.
• I didn’t include the numerous ads that were aired by the NFL and/or by CBS promoting their own properties.

I’m also not counting those brief advertisements where a company logo is shown on screen while the announcer reads the name of game sponsors. In the third quarter, Iron Man’s voiceover mention included a Facebook URL on screen and, in the fourth quarter, a similar voiceover mention for Samsung included a Twitter hashtag. During halftime, Pepsi also included a Twitter hashtag during the introduction to Beyoncé’s performance. None of these mentions are counted above.

What It Means

When it comes to second-screen advertising, it’s Twitter’s world now and there’s no close second place.

Last year, brands split their focus on Twitter and Facebook with eight mentions each. This year, brands recognize that Twitter is where they need to try to attract the online conversation around one of the world’s biggest events.

They even took to Twitter for some quick and clever “blackout bowl” newsjacking when the power went out in the Superdome during the third quarter. And, as Twitter’s advertising staff revealed, it only took four minutes for Twitter advertisers to start bidding on “power outage” as a search term.

Postscript: See our follow-up article, Sorry, Google+ Users, Those Super Bowl Hashtags Really Were For Twitter.

About The Author

Matt McGee

Matt McGee joined Third Door Media as a writer/reporter/editor in September 2008. He served as Editor-In-Chief from January 2013 until his departure in July 2017. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee.