Super Bowl Ads: Nostalgia, Celebrities, and Unexpected Reunions Dominate YouTube Views

Booking.com’s Super Bowl ad starring Tina Fey and the cast of 30 Rock has become the most-watched Super Bowl ad on YouTube Canada, accumulating over 109 million views. The ad features Fey hiring body doubles to experience different vacations, with surprise guest appearances by Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer, and Glenn Close. Nostalgia played a significant role in several other Super Bowl ads, as advertisers relied on celebrity stardom and reunions of popular TV show casts to attract viewers. T-Mobile’s ad, which amassed 19.8 million views, reunited co-stars from Suits (Patrick J. Adams and Gabriel Macht) and Scrubs (Zach Braff and Donald Faison), along with appearances by Jennifer Hudson, Common, Laura Dern, Bradley Cooper, and his mother, Gloria. State Farm’s ad, with 32.5 million views, humorously plays on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s pronunciation of neighbaaa while filming as a State Farm agent. Other notable ads included Snapchat’s dig at other social media platforms, Google Pixel’s ad featuring blind director Adam Morse, Mountain Dew’s Parks and Recreation reunion, and trailers for the new Planet of the Apes and Twisters movies. The Church of Scientology’s ad, which has been viewed over three million times, aims to encourage people to decide for yourself about the controversial organization. Skechers’ ad with Mr. T and Tony Romo attracted over 3.7 million viewers. Overall, these Super Bowl ads tapped into nostalgia and the draw of celebrity to capture viewers’ attention both during the game and on YouTube afterwards.