TCU Neeley Professor Elijah Clark showed his marketing classes a sampling of Super Bowl LVII commercials one day after the game as part of a timely lesson on the effectiveness of reaching intended audiences.
February 16, 2023
By Kelly Kjetsaa
The day after a big game, athletes watch game film to identify plays that worked and find opportunities for improvement. One day after Super Bowl LVII, TCU Neeley marketing students held their own Monday morning, post-game review of the Super Bowl commercials.
Elijah Clark, a TCU Neeley instructor of professional practice in marketing led his students through a discussion and evaluation of the successes and failures of this year’s Super Bowl commercials.
After watching a sampling of commercials in class, students completed a survey. Using the results, Clark led the group through discussions about the target markets and demographics of intended viewers, and weighed the effectiveness of the commercials.
“One thing I noticed in general with the commercials yesterday, was that I kept seeing a celebrity on my TV and I think that that was just the standard that has been set if you want to be competitive and stand out,” said Robin Jackson, a junior marketing and entrepreneurship and innovation major. “That is what Super Bowl commercials are all about - being memorable.”
Whether it was celebrities, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, starring in a Dunkin’ ad, or rapper Jack Harlow trading in rap for a Doritos-shaped triangle instrument, there is no doubt that this year’s Super Bowl commercials were star-studded.
In addition to hiring celebrity talent, advertisers spent up to $7 million for every 30 seconds of airtime during the 2023 Super Bowl, according to Forbes Magazine.
After watching Ben Stiller’s Pepsi Zero Sugar commercial, one student complimented the combination of celebrity, product placement, and a call to action to ‘try it for yourself.’
With the high cost of advertising associated with the championship football game, some of the students expressed their surprise at commercials that barely showed the product being advertised.
The clear favorite for Clark and his marketing class was a commercial with no celebrity and the only mention of the product came as a graphic image at the end of the 15-second commercial for Tubi streaming service.
Football fans were convinced their televisions had changed to Tubi TV, or maybe it was a ghost. Regardless, days after the football the conversation continued, providing the sort of viral video success businesses strive for.
