Dunkin’ puts its spin on the NHL bubble and sales verdict still out on that weird Oatly Super Bowl ad: Trending

The week’s biggest moves, hits and misses and newsmakers. Winner There are so many tracking firms grading Super Bowl ads that pretty much every brand in the game can uncover some kind of metric that makes them look good. But T-Moble scored best on one of the more significant ones: The brand got the greatest growth in their social audience tallies across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, according to analytics firm ListenFirst. See who else did well here. Loser It could have been worse for Jeep—the news of Bruce Springsteen’s DWI could have broken the day of the Super Bowl. But the brand is scrambling nonetheless after TMZ on Wednesday broke the story of the Nov. 14 arrest that forced the brand to take down from YouTube its much-hyped Super Bowl spot starring the Boss. But according to comedian Michael Rapaport, the cop who arrested Bruce in Jersey—of all places!—is the real loser: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Michael Rapaport (@michaelrapaport) Popular Everyone has an opinion on Super Bowl ads, including Ad Age’s Simon Dumenco, whose review of this year’s slate was our most-read post of the week. Finishing a surprising second was a post on Audi’s retort to GM’s Big Game spot. But we don’t think Will Ferrell is any worse for the wear. Dunkin’s own NHL bubble The NHL’s shortened 2021-22 season began a month ago, and now one of the league’s sponsors is getting in on the action with a hockey-themed campaign that hints at the so-called bubble the league operated under last year to avoid COVID spread. David Pastrňák of the Boston Bruins and T.J. Oshie of the Washington Capitals were remade as bubble hockey arcade figures for a Dunkin’ campaign out this month. In the 30-second spot, a Capitals goalie is not defending the net, since he’s busy drinking Dunkin’ Cold Brew. But it’s not an issue since Pastrňák can’t reach the puck in a moment players of such games will recognize. “Inside the Bubble with Dunkin’” uses stop-motion work and comes from its creative agency, BBDO New York, with production by Hornet. Design teams created nearly two dozen different hand-painted heads for both Pastrňák and Oshie for the campaign. Each frame took about six to eight hours to film, according to BBDO. Dunkin’ teamed up with the NHL on a corporate strategic alliance in 2017, its first-ever national sports league partnership, and in 2019 signed a new multiyear deal keeping Dunkin' the official U.S. coffee, donut and breakfast sandwich of the NHL. Seltzer spat Anheuser-Busch InBev suffered a legal setback that will affect marketing for its new Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer, but it appears the brand’s Super Bowl spot will be unscathed. Ultra had been plugging itself as “the only nationally USDA certified organic hard seltzer,” including in an ad that had been airing before the Super Bowl spot ran. As reported by Beer Marketer’s Insights, Oregon-based Suzie’s Brewery took issue with the claim because it says its seltzer is also nationally certified organic. Suzie’s lost a legal bid to stop the Super Bowl spot from running, because Ultra does not make that claim in the spot. But a federal judge this week issued a temporary restraining order that bars AB InBev from calling its brand the only or first nationally certified organic seltzer—although it can continue to say it’s the first “nationally distributed” such product, according to Beer Marketer's Insights. That is because Ultra has a national footprint and Suzie’s does not. The bottom line: AB InBev will just have to tweak a few lines of ad copy—including in this ad for the drink, which has not aired since early Thursday morning, according to iSpot. A representative for AB InBev in a statement to Ad Age said: “The truth matters. Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer is the first USDA Certified Organic hard seltzer distributed nationally. The court’s order allows us to continue making this true statement.” The Ultra Super Bowl spot, which is from FCB and includes Don Cheadle, has so far only aired once during the game, according to iSpot (on both CBS and ESPN Deportes during the game), even though it is unaffected by the ruling. But it is not uncommon for brands to run big celeb Super Bowl ads only once or a handful of times. Oatly’s big bet hasn’t paid off — yet For its first time in the Super Bowl earlier this week, Oatly recycled a 2014 spot showing CEO Toni Petersson in a field, singing about oat milk. The company expected plenty of people wouldn’t like it, printing hundreds of t-shirts that read “I totally hated that Oatly commercial” before the game was even played. So, how did it perform? Well, according to the USA Today Ad Meter, it ranked dead last, 57 out of 57. When it comes to sales, it’s still a wait-and-see. Nut-based beverages overall, including oat milk, have been growing, with sales up 181% on Amazon in the 52 weeks ended Jan. 26, according to Profitero. It saw a brief spark in searches on Super Bowl Sunday, when the online search frequency of “oatly oat milk” jumped 67% from the prior Sunday. And searches of oat milk rose 22%, the data company says. “Toni says thanks for supporting his singing skills during the game last Sunday,” Oatly posted on Twitter on Feb. 10. “He also says thanks for all the non-support too. It takes both supporters and non-supporters to inspire change in the world. May wow, wow, no cow, be stuck in your head until then.” Quote of the week “I think in terms of what the message should be, we have to build trust. Vaccine hesitancy is incredibly complex.”— Heidi Arthur, the Ad Council’s chief campaign development officer, discussing vaccine marketing efforts during this week’s Ad Age Next: Health & Wellness event. Number of the week 31%: Share of consumers who plan to buy flowers as Valentines Day gifts this year, down 15 points from 2020, according to a survey by research company Numerator. Cue Barbara Streisand. Tweet of the week Did Pepsi write this? https://t.co/yY6uSHtIJV— Keaton Patti (@KeatonPatti) February 11, 2021 Auto show scramble Car brands have increasingly relied less on auto shows to make big, splashy reveals. The pandemic has forced brands to think even more outside the box, as the shows get delayed or postponed. The latest change comes from the Los Angeles Auto Show, which as Automotive News reports has switched dates once again and will now take place in November, when it has been staged in recent years, organizers said Thursday. Organizers had been planning to stage it May 21-31, after the 2020 show did not happen. The dates for the other big auto shows in Detroit and Chicago have also been in flux. Find out more here. On the move Thomas Wilder, formerly a partner and creative director at Collins, has joined restaurant chain Sweetgreen as its first-ever executive creative director. Contributing: Jessica Wohl

Dunkin’ puts its spin on the NHL bubble and sales verdict still out on that weird Oatly Super Bowl ad: Trending

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