Nationwide’s Eerie #MakeSafeHappen Super Bowl Ad Gets Grave Reviews
While the tally is still out on which advertiser won the Super Bowl, the loser is quite clear and depressing.
It’s the second quarter in a competitive game. The commercials have been entertaining, heartfelt and funny. Yeah, being a dad is pretty cool, Skittles give you bigger arms and – yay horses just saved a muddy puppy.
Then the Nationwide commercial hits:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKUy-tfrIHY[/youtube]
Queue drunken parents scrambling to find their children everywhere. It’s safe to say that, while on point, the Nationwide commercial was the biggest flub of SuperBowl 49.
Some folks poked fun at the insurance provider’s expense.
Nationwide says “Enjoy the Halftime Show!” pic.twitter.com/VGesJZBWlN
— Dan O’Donnell (@DanODradio) February 2, 2015
WHY DIDN’T THE BUDWEISER CLYDESDALES SAVE THE NATIONWIDE KID? — Jeff Dauler (@JeffDauler) February 2, 2015
“Look how amazing kids can be.” – Microsoft “Unless they die.” – Nationwide
— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) February 2, 2015
But others were legitimately upset:
That Nationwide ad crossed the line. Ugly manipulation for profit. #SuperBowl — Marcos Breton (@MarcosBreton) February 2, 2015
@Nationwide that commercial was unnecessary. Not happy.
— Brandi (@NurseBrandilew) February 2, 2015
The commercial gave Nationwide a horrific overall sentiment score of 37% positive post-commercial according to sentiment140.com.
Image courtesy of sentiment140.com
You may be thinking – wow, 37% of people liked that? Well, sentiment analysis isn’t perfect and we scrolled through the Tweets and nearly all of those that counted towards a “positive” result were really jokes or making light at the poor promotional choice. Compare that to Budweiser and their phenomenal puppy-fueled scores:
Image courtesy of sentiment140.com
Topsy also showed similar metrics with Nationwide having a 33% positive sentiment score compared to Budweiser’s 83%. ESPN’s Sports Business Reporter, Darren Rovell, queried his 500k+ Twitter followers on the worst ad of the 1st half and to no surprise it was Nationwide:
RESULTS: Worst 1st half Super Bowl commercial vote was unanimous pic.twitter.com/2tAjtA9fIt — Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 2, 2015
So Nationwide lost SuperBowl 49, right? Well, only time (and new accidental liability insurance sign-ups) will tell. It can’t all be a wash though as they have racked up all this additional coverage.
So everyone hated the Nationwide commercial. Which means everyone will be taking about Nationwide. Which means Nationwide wins.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) February 2, 2015
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.
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