Oreo Stays On Its Game

I enjoyed watching the commercials during the Super Bowl almost as much as the game itself. While there were certainly highs and lows with these long-planned-out spots, my favorite ad was not a commercial, but the static image you see above.

Not long after most of the lights went out in the Superdome on Sunday night, Oreo posted an ad on Twitter and Facebook that connected to what was happening in real-time during the game. And yes, that is fast.

To me, this kind of instantaneous creation is genius. Especially when positioned next to the commercials, which are extremely expensive, and stale to some degree because they have been in the can so long. Not only was this ad free, but it connected with people in a very real way – becoming a timely part of the shared experience.

This ad is also semi-miraculous because this kind of stuff rarely happens so quickly – mostly due to all the red tape of brand manager approvals that can last for—ever. The turn-around here shows that not only was the creative agency on call (360i), but there was also someone available at the HQ for an approval. I feel pretty confident saying that the folks at Anheuser-Busch were too busy watching the game as well as their six commercials rather than looking for a way to innovate.

In the wake of another Oreo promotion that I wrote about here, I really like what the brand is doing, and I will be closely watching their next move. [Sadly, Oreo’s actual commercial paled in comparison to the shared image, but a win is a win.]

H/t to BuzzFeed for the story behind the story.