Local ad industry dishes on this year’s Super Bowl ads – the fumbles and the touchdowns

By Jackie DiBartolomeo

If you tuned in to Super Bowl LIX last week, you likely saw some commercials with a Richmond touch.

There were 17 ad campaigns shown during the game that involved contributions from 30 VCU Brandcenter alumni, according to VCU. That means this year’s big game was not only the most-watched Super Bowl of all-time, but also the Super Bowl with one of the largest connections to Richmond’s ad community in its history. 

With that involvement in mind, nearly 60 advertising and marketing professionals gathered last week for the Advertising Club of Richmond’s annual “Ad Bowl” event. 

Held at BES Studios on Old Osborne Turnpike, the event included a panel of some of the brightest names in the local advertising scene dissecting and critiquing a host of multimillion-dollar ads that aired during the game. 

Brand Federation CEO Kelly O’Keefe moderated the panel, which included Lindsey King and Frederick Nduna, creative directors at The Martin Agency; Justin Bajan, co-founder and creative director of Familiar Creatures; and Lauren Galanides, senior producer at Arts & Letters Creative Co. 

The night kicked off with a viewing of a few ads that Richmonders had a hand in, including Martin Agency’s 30-second “Ritz Salty Club” spot, featuring the famously salty actors Aubrey Plaza and Michael Shannon alongside smiling musician Bad Bunny all trying Ritz crackers.

Also showcased was one of two Richmond-based Homes.com ads featuring Morgan Freeman, Heidi Gardner and Dan Levy. The commercial showed Gardner and Levy reprising their roles as real estate executives debating whether they can legally call Homes.com the best, with a surprise cameo from Freeman at the end. 

The Homes.com ad was created by Los Angeles-based advertising agency RPA. Homes.com is the locally based division of real estate data company CoStar Group, which is building a massive office complex on the downtown riverfront. 

First up to be critiqued by the panelists was a 60-second Pfizer spot created by Publicis Groupe, including agencies Le Truc, Leo NY, Collective and others, set to LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out.” Sans celebrity cameos, the ad follows a young boy during his discharge from the hospital after beating cancer.