Brands
Super Bowl 2020: Here are some of the best ads
Football fans or to be more precise, American Football fans, like every year gathered around to watch the Super Bowl. The event can be touted as the ultimate sporting event across the country and often breaks most of the records of its sporting contemporaries.
While this year’s game was between San Fancisco49ers vs Kansas City Chiefs, not everyone might have watched the grand affair for the athlete inclination. Given the magnitude of the event, the choicest of brands pair with Hollywood stalwarts to push new ads throughout the show’s premiere and thus the commercials become somewhat of standalone attractions.
However, the slots for these ads do not come cheap. While during the first edition of the sporting extravaganza in 1967, an ad slot was reportedly sold for around $37,500 to $42,500, the prices have shot up into multi-millions now.
As per a report by Bloomberg, by November FOX had already sold out 30 seconds slots for around $5.6 million. Super Bowl XLIX (2015) which saw the Patriots go up against Seahawks, recorded a whopping 144.44 million views, pumping it to the title of the highest watched Super Bowl in history.
Super Bowl doesn’t only give a platform to ads, but also, trailers for movies, TV shows, games and much more. As the operations of this year’s Super Bowl wrap up with the Kansas City Chief taking home the title, we take a look at some of the best commercials of this season!
> Hyundai
Starring Chris Evans, Rachel Dratch, John Krasinski, the focus of the ad is Hyundai Sonata’s “Smaht Pahk”, where the car parks itself and even un-parks! As the former two for the aforementioned trio look in amazement, Krasinski shows off the functionalities as well! Oh, even David Ortiz makes a cameo!
> Microsoft
The spot of Microsoft is a rather inspiring one. The ad puts the spotlight on, Katie Sowers, who is the first woman to coach in the Super Bowl. The one minute video shares the journey of Sowers and showcases her determination to become what she is today.
> Amazon
Graced by Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, Amazon’s ad takes us to numerous scenarios in a world without its recent offering, Alexa! Fantastically comic and well-imagined scenarios perfectly sync with the ending bringing it all together in an ad which might want to make you get Alexa!
> Pringles
Love Rick and Morty and Pringles? The Super Bowl ad of Pringles transports the duo into an alternate world where they realise that they are trapped in a Pringles advertisement. Choose your flavours wisely!
> Budweiser
Budweiser’s take on this year’s Super Bowl revolves around shattering stereotypes. The brand has picked up the phrase ”Typical American” and gives a sharp twist to what the phrase means by featuring amazing events with the stereotypical phrases.
Google’s ad focuses on its Google Assistant application. Using the help of the app, a man remembers his late lady love, Loretta. Weaved beautifully with minimalistic approach, the ad definitely tugs the heartstrings!
While these are just some of many that we loved, the others definitely deserve the credit of being amazing too!
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Brands
Uber launches hotel bookings feature in partnership with Expedia
From hotel bookings to room service at your door, the ride-hailing giant is making its boldest push yet into everyday life
CALIFORNIA: Uber is done being just a taxi app. At its annual GO-GET product event, the world’s leading mobility and delivery platform unveiled a sweeping set of new features designed to plant itself at the centre of how people travel, eat and shop, hotel bookings included.
The headline move is a partnership with Expedia Group that lets Uber users in the United States book hotels directly within the Uber app, with access to a catalogue that will eventually grow to more than 700,000 properties worldwide. Uber One members get 10 per cent back in Uber One credits on all hotel bookings and savings of at least 20 per cent on a rolling list of more than 10,000 hotels globally. Vacation rentals from Vrbo, Expedia Group’s home-rental brand, will be added later this year. The partnership is expected to expand beyond the United States. From June, Uber rides will also be integrated directly into the Expedia app, with push notifications sent to travellers ahead of hotel check-in to book discounted Uber rides for the duration of their stay.
Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Uber, framed the expansion in terms of the modern condition. “Uber is becoming an app for everything, helping people go, get, and now travel all in one place,” he said. “We’re all living through a moment of real cognitive overload: too many apps, too many decisions, too much noise. At the end of the day, our job is to help people reclaim their time, spending less of it managing the logistics of life and more of it actually living.”
Ariane Gorin, chief executive of Expedia Group, struck a similarly ambitious note. “Travel should feel effortless, and this partnership gets us one step closer to offering a seamless traveller experience,” she said. “By connecting our two-sided marketplace with Uber, we’re bringing Uber rides directly into the Expedia app and Expedia Group’s lodging inventory into the Uber app through our Rapid API technology. Together, we’re helping travellers spend less time planning and more time enjoying the journey.”
Beyond hotels, the product announcements come thick and fast. Travel Mode, available within both the Uber and Uber Eats apps, offers curated recommendations on local favourites, tourist destinations, OpenTable restaurant reservations and on-demand delivery to hotel rooms. Uber One International means the membership programme now works globally, allowing members to earn credits on rides abroad that can be redeemed once back home. A new Shop for Me feature lets users request items from any store, even those not listed on the app. Eats for the Way allows riders in select cities booking an Uber Black or Uber Black SUV to have a drink or snack waiting for them in the car. Voice Bookings, powered by artificial intelligence, lets users book a ride conversationally, without touching their phone. And a redesigned One Search bar consolidates results for places, food and items across the entire Uber platform in a single query.
Uber has now logged more than 72 billion trips since it launched in 2010. The question it is now answering is what comes after the ride. The answer, apparently, is everything else. Whether users want a hotel in Paris, a coffee in the back of a car or a snake plant from the local garden centre, Uber would very much like to be the one to provide it. The app economy’s land grab has a new front-runner.
NOTE: The image used is AI generated and only for representational purposes.
