Yessian EP Katie Overcash Talks Super Bowl Ads

In the advertising world, Super Bowl Sunday is about anything but football. It’s about the commercials! Yessian Executive Producer Katie Overcash chatted with Screen about highlights and lowlights from the epic event…

SCREEN: What was your favorite spot of the night?

KATIE: Jeep “The Middle” – This spot was a beautiful example of a proper cinematic manifesto. It was beautifully shot and the score was exceptional. It was all the feels in a time when we need them.

Amazon’s “Sexy Alexa” – This spot was very well written, acted, outside the box, imaginative and FUNNY. I watched it several times after the game and liked it more each time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxNxqveseyI

SCREEN: What was your least favorite spot of the night or a spot you felt could have been more successful?

KATIE: Cheetos “It Wasn’t Me” – Although I am a fan of both Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher and greatly admire the work Ashton does to combat human trafficking, I thought this spot was a miss all around. The re-record of Shaggy’s forever favorite hit “It Wasn’t Me” was as poorly delivered as the acting… this one just fell flat for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7yvrDTtsHw

SCREEN: What would you like to see more or less of in terms of advertising in next year’s Super Bowl?

KATIE: I’d like to see more storytelling focused spots that feel authentic and heartfelt. It would be refreshing for advertiser’s to lean into a cinematic approach that utilizes music and sound design more thoughtfully. The blatant use of celebrity talent to sell, felt overused in this year’s Super Bowl. Given all that is going on in our world I think it was a bit of a missed opportunity.

SCREEN: Any final words here, Katie?

KATIE: Overall I think advertiser’s did well with the complexity of the spots given all the Production limitations this year. There was some excellent sound design and music in this year’s advertising game!