SOC Students, faculty rate Super Bowl ads
Professor Chuck Rudnick discusses Super Bowl commercials with students.
By David Kamerer
Budweiser isn’t just the “King of Beers;” it’s also the king of Super Bowl ads.
That was the consensus of students and faculty experts who attended the annual Super Bowl ad preview at Loyola’s School of Communication.
Students and faculty from the Advertising and Public Relations program gathered in the SOC TV studio to preview the commercials in advance of Super Bowl LIX. The event was sponsored by Loyola PRSSA and Ad Club.
After viewing the commercials, most agreed Budweiser charged ahead of the pack like a team of Clydesdales.
“ is a master class in Super Bowl advertising,” said Chuck Rudnick, instructor of advertising creative and an industry veteran. “It seamlessly incorporates their iconic Clydesdales into a charming story that revolves around the beer.”
“I thought the Budweiser storyline was really well done, it was heartwarming,” said Heidi Reissenweber, sophomore in Ad/PR.
The spot centers around a Clydesdale horse deemed too small to be part of the team, but who finds a way to play a part.
Professors Chuck Rudnick and Jing Yang analyze Super Bowl ads during a commercial preview event at the School of Communication.
“When you have a cultural symbol as iconic as the Clydesdales, it makes perfect sense to feature that in your Super Bowl commercial, year after year,” said Rudnick.
Several of the commercials played for the “water cooler” moments after the game by featuring celebrities in odd situations or by highlighting the weird.
While many commercials leaned toward safe approaches, several used outrageous humor to gain attention, said Jing Yang, program director for the MS in digital advertising and associate professor. The “Eyebrows” from Little Caesars and the “Mustache” from Pringles make for an unexpectedly delightful duo. Both are quite lighthearted, and memorable,” she said.
These spots used CGI editing to move Eugene Levy’s famous eyebrows around, or to pull moustaches off noteworthy celebrities in homage to the famous Pringles moustache. Another spot featured pop singer Seal as a, well, seal. The most polarizing spot was for Coffee Mate and prominently featured a man’s tongue assuming different shapes as he enjoyed the product.
But Loyola students, who voted on the spots in real time, favored sweet and sentimental overall.
“Like every year, some of this year’s Super Bowl commercials are great, some are good, and some just leave you scratching your head,” Rudnick said. “When you’re spending 7+ million dollars for 30 seconds, the pressure is on to deliver a memorable spot with a relevant message.”