M&M's Bad Passengers Tops SpotBowl's Super Bowl Poll

Budweiser’s Clydesdales made a triumphant return to the Super Bowl, and Hyundai took us for a ride on the world’s most unpleasant elevator, but it was a spot from M&M’S, featured some quarrelling candies, that took home the win in SpotBowl’s annual Super Bowl commercial poll. The poll, in its 16th year, is the creation of advertising agency Pavone.

M&M’S ad, a first-quarter spot called “Bad Passengers,” featured Christina Applegate losing her cool with some out-of-control M&M’S in the back seat of a car. Rounding out the top three was Amazon’s ad featuring celebrities testing various failed Alexa spin-offs and Planter’s commercial showing Mr. Peanut going above and beyond to deliver some snacks.  

“The big question every year is, ‘What’s going to be more entertaining — the game or the ads?’ This year’s game was pretty uneventful, but the ads didn’t exactly run away with a win,” said Pavone president and SpotBowl founder Michael Pavone. “Advertisers mostly played it safe but, unfortunately, ‘safe’ sometimes isn’t enough to break through the clutter and create a really memorable ad.”   

The real battle for impressions, however, is waged online. Pavone created a proprietary analytics tool that tracked social media conversations about the big-game brands to determine which companies got the biggest bump in online buzz and the biggest digital return on their investment. In that showdown, Olay was the clear winner, with more than 1.2 million engagements on Twitter and Facebook. 

At the bottom of the SpotBowl rankings, as determined by America’s vote, was a politically charged spot from The Washington Post, which reminded viewers that “democracy dies in the darkness.” For a complete listing of the game’s advertising leaders, visit spotbowl.com.

SPOTBOWL 2019 TOP SCORERS

(For a complete listing, visit spotbowl.com.)

1. M&M’S (“Bad Passengers”) — Christina Applegate deals with quarrelling candies in the

back seat of a car.

2. Amazon (“Alexa Fails”) — Harrison Ford, Forest Whitaker and a team of celebs beta test

various unsuccessful Alexa spin-offs.

 

3. Planters (“Crunch Time”) — Mr. Peanut and the Planters NUTmobile make a crunch-time

delivery to former baseball star Alex Rodriguez.

 

4. Microsoft (“Everyone Plays”) — Microsoft’s adaptive controllers help kids with disabilities

play video games.

5. Hyundai (“The Elevator”) — Jason Bateman is an elevator attendant in a building whose floors feature various uncomfortable life experiences.