Amidst a fraught political landscape, the Super Bowl continues to air messages of diversity and equality. With Fox selling 30-second spots for about $5 million each, advertisers looking to take advantage of the biggest advertising platform in the world have to be careful in what ads they choose to air. Otherwise, they’re not only out of millions of dollars, but they also risk offending the audiences they’re trying to bring in
Superbowl Ads, Diversity is the new Norm
Super Bowl Ads past that objectified women (such as this ad by Doritos) or made minorities a punchline (such as this ad by Groupon) are no longer acceptable. A study by Charles R. Taylor shows that reflecting society’s shifting attitudes, Super Bowl ads now skew towards depicting portrayals of a diverse America.
One example shown in this year’s Super Bowl is the Coca-Cola ad “It’s Beautiful.” Originally aired in 2014, Coca-Cola chose to rerun the ad in this year’s Super Bowl. “It’s Beautiful” features a diverse cast of people singing “America the Beautiful” in seven different languages, including Tagalog, Arabic and Hindi.
Super Bowl Ads Highlighting Diversity Among The Most Effective
Ads can be measured according to their likeability, how much buzz they generate on social media, and their overall effectiveness. The study by Taylor found that including diverse models have only a slight impact on the ad’s likeability. It is only one factor affecting its potential for causing social media buzz (other factors include use of humor, cuteness, or highlighting a product’s key feature).
Nonetheless, certain Super Bowl ads with diversity as a theme were considered highly effective. One example is the “Gracie” ad aired by Cheerios in 2014, featuring a mixed-race family. In the first half, the father uses Cheerios to explain to Gracie that she will be getting a new little brother. In the second half, the mother explains to her the health benefits of Cheerios.
Growing Number Of Models Who Are People Of Color
Super Bowl ads in the past five years reveal a growing trend of people of color (POCs) being used as models. The study shows 50% of these ads included an African-American model, 14% a Latino or Hispanic model, and 18% an Asian model – and these numbers are increasing.
The data contribute evidence that “diversity” is not a phase or even a recent development. It is the new norm for Super Bowl advertising. The shift towards diversity can be partially attributed to Millennials, who tend to be more receptive to diversity than previous generations.
The Importance Of Copytesting
However, the study also notes that it’s not enough for advertisers to simply cast POCs. Models need to have a prominent role in the ad and not just be delegated to background roles for there to be a significant impact on minorities. An ad with a POC side character is not considered truly diverse by the majority of Americans. Like all good ads, there needs to be a story that resonates with the audience and that means a character POCs can identify with who is representative of them. Otherwise, the portrayal of diversity may be considered shallow or insensitive and backfire on the advertiser.
This is where copytesting, or pre-testing, comes in. By showing the ad to target members of a minority group, advertisers can receive feedback on the ad’s overall effectiveness. This solves the problems of perpetuating stereotypes or potentially offending minorities. Copytesting can help guarantee the authenticity of an ad with diversity as its central theme.