Budweiser’s ‘Brotherhood’ seems advertising group favorite
Students and faculty in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications gathered together Sunday night, but not just to watch the Super Bowl.
Instead, they came to rate the ads.
Bonnie Drewniany, a USC professor who has taught the journalism course “Super Bowl of Advertising” for the past decade, said her students evaluated the commercials throughout the night based on three criteria: likability, persuasion and brand identification.
Votes are registered and averaged to determine the winner of the annual Cocky award.
Sunday’s favorite appeared to be Budweiser’s “Brotherhood,” which shows the reunion of one of the beer company’s famous Clydesdale horses and the man who raised it.
According to Drewniany, this year’s voting process proved much different than others.
“So much of the surprise has left because so many ads were posted online ahead of time,” Drewniany said.
Kim Barrett, a fourth-year public relations major, found a commonality among the most successful ads.
“I think the ones that have done the best have the humor factor and the celebrity factor,” Barrett said.
That hardly comes at a surprise, because humor tends to yield the popular vote, she said.
Kevin Walker, fourth-year advertising major, was impressed with the ads overall, but said none of them particularly stood out with a “wow” factor. Walker believes that watching the Super Bowl with classmates has changed his perception of the commercial ads.
“It’s nice to be with a lot of folks when you’re watching the game,” Walker said. “It really has drawn my attention to the commercials.”
At the end of the semester, the creative team with the best commercial will be invited to campus and receive the Cocky award, according to Drewniany.
“It is amazing what the Super Bowl has done for the ad industry,” Drewniany said.