The Uber Eats commercial by Special for the 2022 Super Bowl is the top ranked ad in the annual Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review.
The spot, Uber Don't Eats, features a string of celebrities -- Jennifer Coolidge, Trevor Noah, Gwyneth Paltrow and Nick Braun from Succession -- confused because Uber Eats now delivers products you can't eat.
"Uber Eats is the winning ad this year because it had very strong branding and played off its known attributes to leverage its equity in a simple and clear message," says Derek D. Rucker, professor of entrepreneurial studies at Northwestern University and co-lead of the school's Ad Review.
Special's CCO, Julian Schreiber: “‘It’s so rare a brand is willing to be this self-deprecating on such a huge scale.
“But Uber Eats immediately saw the cut through and understood, it was perfect to announce they now do more than Eats.”
Other brands to pick up high top marks include Planters, Google Pixel 6 and Doritos.
"A lot of money is on the line for any brand who advertises in the Super Bowl and they put themselves in position to benefit from the exposure by bringing awareness to their product offerings, and broadening their exposure," says Rucker.
Many of the commercials were upbeat.
Rucker says this suggests consumers are responding to positive messages and a sense of normalcy as the world enters the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year was also a battle of the electric vehicles. According to the Ad Review panel, BMW's new electric line was the highest rating of the group.
More than 40% of this year's Super Bowl commercials came from new advertisers.
"There were many new advertisers, including multiple cryptocurrency brands that missed the mark," says Rucker.
"While many of them caught viewer attention, there was no clear benefit or branding that helped to position crypto as the trusted future of investing."
Salesforce's "Team Earth" and Toyota's "Two Brothers" spots were among commercial to rank low.
Taco Bell's advertisement didn't rate despitepop-singer Doja Cat's appearance.
The Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review uses a strategic academic framework known as ADPLAN to evaluate the strategic effectiveness of Super Bowl spots. The acronym helps viewers grade ads based on Attention, Distinction, Positioning, Linkage, Amplification and Net Equity.
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