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I am not a football fan (American or as the rest of the world knows it). I had to look up who was playing in the Super Bowl tomorrow while writing this article (it’s the Philadelphia Eagles versus the Kansas City Chiefs). But, I do love the commercials. Some of the funniest, oddest, and most heartwarming spots run during the Super Bowl (reportedly to the tune of up to $7 million for each 30-seconds of air time). It seems like everyone is vying for your dollars including several travel companies. Here is a look at the ads to watch for tomorrow.
United Airlines
United will be running an ad that takes aim at one of its Denver rivals, Southwest. The commercial touts United as “an airline built for Denver,” while telling the story of a family that was able to get together for the holidays. It’s a not-so-subtle dig at Southwest’s holiday meltdown.
Anthony’s Take: Yawn. I don’t find the story that interesting or touching. You did your job, United. Kudos. Here’s a cookie.
Priceline
Priceline’s campaign is titled “Go To Your Happy Price” and features Kaley Cuoco (from The Big Bang Theory). In it, a father tells his son that travel prices are too high to vacation this year. The little boy deflates like a pool toy and reinflates when Kaley saves the day by showing his dad that Priceline has packages for every budget including some that no one else has to offer. Is that true? I haven’t booked anything with Priceline in well over a decade, but I guess there are still a lot of folks that use online travel agencies for them to afford Super Bowl ads.
Anthony’s Take: It’s cute, but not enough to make me want to use Priceline.
Carnival Cruise Line
I took one Carnival cruise and it was enough to make me say never again. The food was awful, the boat was not well kept, and the people, oh, the people. If I wasn’t stuck floating with these other passengers, I might have enjoyed the people watching. But, at sea there is no escape. Think using plastic bags for luggage, stumbling around drunk and rowdy, and having no table manners. The commercial doesn’t appeal to me, but I’m also not in the market for budget family travel and I know what can be found on these boats.
Anthony’s Take: Show the hordes of people storming the tenders. Show the slop served in the buffet. Good luck finding five lounge chairs together on the pool deck. Did this family sleep there overnight or get there at 5:00 AM to secure their spots? This would not happen otherwise.
Uber
P. Diddy is asked to perform “one hit for Uber One” in this ad. I’m a sucker for pop culture references and this one packs in several hits from the 1990s and 2000s. It’s funny to hear Diddy’s bodyguard/assistant refer to him in the third-person (“Diddy don’t do jingles.”).
Anthony’s Take: I was definitely singing along to some of the songs featured including Donna Lewis’ “I Love You Always Forever” and Haddaway’s “What Is Love.” This might be my favorite of the travel ads airing tomorrow.
Booking.com
Look it’s another online travel agency (OTA) running ads during the Super Bowl. Booking.com is looking to capture more marketshare with its spots featuring Melissa McCarthy. A teaser was released above, but word is that McCarthy will be singing her way through several vacation possibilities ranging from the spa to skiing.
Anthony’s Take: She is hysterical, so I bet these ads will be funny. The teaser had me interested (somewhat in her and more in the Iberico Ham she is holding). We’ll see how funny these commercials end up being.
Overall: If I had to pick one of the above, it would be the Uber ad. None of these are particularly memorable. I’m hopeful that some of Booking.com’s other ads are funny, but I don’t see any of these being talked about long after the game.
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
