Blink – and you could have missed Reddit’s Super Bowl 2021 ad.
The social media site ran a 5-second commercial that included a message to the “underdogs” – in an apparent nod to the recent GameStop frenzy fueled by Redditor.
“Ads for big games are expensive, so we couldn’t buy a full one,” says the full-text ad.
“But we were inspired and decided to spend our marketing budget on 5 seconds of airtime.”
He continued: “One thing we learned from our communities last week is that underdogs can do almost anything when they come together around a common idea”
This appeared to be a reference to the WallStreetBets Reddit forum, whose members rocked investors last week by increasing the shares of GameStop and other companies in defiance of large hedge funds.
“Powerful things happen when people come together around something that really matters. And there is a place for that. It’s called Reddit, ”said the website ad.
The unusual location prompted several people to pause or rewind the game to read it.
“In case you missed the Reddit Super Bowl ad … it only lasted 5 seconds. I definitely stopped to read ”, a person wrote on Twitter.
Another viewer tweeted: “The reddit ad was great – I had to go back and read it.”
“Okay, that Reddit commercial made us stop and go back to read. The best marketing I’ve seen in a long time ”, a user added.
Even Reddit seemed to be unsure whether its message would arrive.
“If you’re reading this, it means that our bet was worth it,” began the ad.
The company later responded to some Twitter users who posted the ad after it aired, including: “It worked !!!!”
While it is unclear how much the site spent on the ad, a 30-second commercial cost $ 5,500,000.