Brand mascot Easter eggs abounded during Super Bowl LIV. If you watched the commercials featured during football’s biggest night carefully, you might have spotted more than the rebirth of Mr. Peanut. The Bud Knight, Kool-Aid Man, and even the Hamburglar all made it to Super Bowl 54. Let’s rewind and review.
Tide
Who knew The Bud Knight would make his triumphant return to the Super Bowl with the help of laundry detergent? The first of Saatchi & Saatchi New York’s two new Super Bowl spots kicks off with actor Charlie Day’s shirt getting smeared with sauce. He wants to go do his laundry, but actress Emily Hampshire says not now during the Super Bowl.
If not now, then when? Later.
When is “later” to do laundry? Day seeks the answer from several individuals, including The Bud Knight. Should he do his laundry during the ads? The Bud Knight says no way.
In the follow-up spot, Day has decided to do his laundry. But later is now earlier, as he steps into the year 1436. The Bud Knight is here, practicing archery, and there’s not a washing machine in sight. It seems the right time to do laundry is always supposed to be… later.
Planters
Prior to Super Bowl LIV, Mr. Peanut passed away at 104-years-old. He heroically died saving his friends, actors Matt Walsh and Wesley Snipes, after the NUTmobile veered off the highway during a road trip.
VaynerMedia’s “Tribute” revealed the aftermath of Mr. Peanut’s last commercial. The spot opens on Mr. Peanut’s funeral service.
It’s a somber event with few mascots in attendance. The NUTmobile is shown parked outside next to the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Wesley Snipes gives the eulogy to the legendary legume.
Mr. Clean comforts a crying Kool-Aid Man. The pitcher’s tears land on Mr. Peanut’s plot of soil. Then, something unusual happens. A plant starts to grow from the dirt.
It’s a peanut plant, of course, and a Baby Nut is born.
Who is Baby Nut? Think Mr. Peanut, junior edition. He’s got the top hat, but no cane or monocle. (Is there a need for it yet? He’s a baby, so probably not.) Baby Nut will likely become BFFs with Baby Yoda, if there’s ever a Planters/Disney crossover event…
Pringles
We only get a brief glimpse of Julius Pringles in the Rick and Morty universe, but it’s pretty satisfying. Maybe a little terrifying, too.
Produced by ad agency Grey and Adult Swim, the Pringles Big Game spot re-imagines Pringles as the bad guy in a Rick and Morty alternate universe. The Pringles brand took Rick, Morty, and Summer while they slept. Now they’re trapped in a Pringles universe and doomed to eternally stack Pringles chips into new flavors until Rick finds a way to get everyone out.
McDonald’s
Ever wonder what your favorite celebrities order when they go to McDonald’s? Wieden + Kennedy New York’s McDonald’s spot reveals the “Famous Orders” of some of the world’s biggest stars.
There’s also a blink and you might miss it order from McDonaldland’s own Hamburglar. Looks about right to us.
Procter & Gamble
Pretty much every character under the P&G brand comes together to clean a chili spill in this commercial.
Except for The Man Your Man Could Smell Like from Old Spice. The signature scent kept this character perfectly dry.
The Bounty Man helps bring in the muscle with his quicker picker upper paper towels. Mr. Clean grabs a mop. One of the Charmin Bears sings instead of cleaning because, well, this kind of clean up doesn’t require toilet paper.
“When we all come together, it’s amazing what we can do.” That’s the P&G spot’s tagline and also a nice tie-in for the brand mascots that showed up for Super Bowl LIV.
Thanks guys! (Can the M&M’S come back again next year?)
