INDUSTRY:
CPG
ROLE:
Director, Strategy @ sparks&honey
YEARS:
2018 - 2019
about.
In early 2019 the NFL was under intense scrutiny. Headlines about player concussions, domestic abuse incidents, and anthem protest backlash had eroded public trust, ratings were slipping, and Maroon 5’s Halftime booking drew widespread criticism as tone-deaf. The Super Bowl, once a symbol of collective celebration, was arriving in one of the most divided cultural climates the league had ever faced.
challenge.
PepsiCo’s VP of Sponsorships wanted to know if it was still possible to create a positive brand moment in the midst of all that tension. We set out to find a way to turn a reputational risk into a unifying cultural flashpoint. Our team analyzed third-party data to identify five themes with the power to bring Americans together, then ran a second-by-second forensic analysis of social chatter during past Halftime shows to see what sparked the most positive conversation.
result.
Our research surfaced two core insights: surprise and wonder can unite people. We brought wonder to life through the Overview Effect, the sense of awe and shared humanity people feel when seeing Earth from space, as Travis Scott flew into the stadium like a comet with a fleeting planetary view. We tapped surprise with a cameo from SpongeBob’s Band Geeks episode, honoring the late creator and answering fans’ viral calls for “Sweet Victory.” These moments became the most shared and positively covered parts of the 2019 Halftime show, cutting through the controversy and giving viewers something unifying to hold onto.
social.
SpongeBob tribute was the best part of the Super Bowl so far.
@MKBHD
On Twitter
