LikeFolio: The most loved and hated Super Bowl 52 commercials

PepsiCo (PEP) stole the show with its 2018 Super Bowl commercials as its brands Doritos, Pepsi and Mountain Dew each delighted viewers and generated massive amounts of positive chatter. The company’s brands captured three of the top four spots in LikeFolio’s consumer buzz. Doritos and Mountain Dew took the No. 1 and No. 2 slot, respectively, for consumer sentiment, according to a LikeFolio analysis of social media mentions.

LikeFolio uses data gathered from social media to measure trends and shifts in consumer behavior as well as consumer reaction to marketing campaigns. Each year, the company zooms in on consumer reaction to the brands that advertise during the Super Bowl and publishes its lists of winners and losers from the biggest day in marketing.

While Pepsi’s commercials were loved in 2018, its rival Coca-Cola’s (KO) ads actually turned out to be the most hated. In fact, its commercial for Diet Coke turned in the lowest Super Bowl ad sentiment we have ever measured, at an absolutely dismal 33% positive. This is especially striking considering Coca-Cola was the 2017 Super Bowl ad winner with the rerun of its “America the Beautiful” ad.

Budweiser had a mixed night. Its touching “Stand By Me” ad was well received, and viewers enjoyed the Michelob Ultra “I like beer” song, grabbing the No. 4 position in consumer sentiment. Unfortunately, half of viewers truly disliked the Bud Light “Bud Knight — Dilly Dilly” commercial, which landed Bud Light on our Most Hated list for 2018.

Tide did very well throughout the entire game, with clever “Tide ad” placements that tricked and amused viewers. Amazon’s (AMZN) “Alexa lost her voice” ad was also a big hit, getting the company into the top eight for consumer buzz and the third most loved by sentiment.

Here are LikeFolio’s winners and losers for the 2018 Super Bowl:

Best consumer buzz (number of highly positive mentions)

1. Doritos (5914)

2. Tide (4647)

3. Pepsi (4397)

4. Mountain Dew (3656)

5. Coca-Cola (2050)

6. Wendy’s (2007)

7. Amazon (1998)

8. Budweiser (1773)

Most loved brands by sentiment (percent positive)

1. Mountain Dew (89%)

2. Doritos (89%)

3. Amazon Echo (87%)

4. Michelob Ultra (87%)

5. ETrade (83%)

Most hated brands by sentiment (percent positive)

1. Diet Coke (33%)

2. Sprint (47%)

3. TurboTax (48%)

4. Bud Light (51%)

5. Coca-Cola (53%)

Data based on LikeFolio analysis of Twitter mentions of brands that advertised on NBC from 6 p.m. ET – 11 p.m. ET.

Sentiment is calculated using the following formula: Number of positive mentions / (Number of positive mentions plus Number of negative mentions)

Andy Swan is LikeFolio’s founder and can be reached at andy@likefolio.com