The tens of millions of dollars of advertising launched by OpenAI in the Super Bowl was far lower than expected, attracting industry attention. This ad attempts to highlight the significance of AI by showing the progress of human history, but failed to resonate with the audience and ranks at the bottom among many ads. This has sparked discussions on which is better, technical publicity and emotional marketing, and also provides valuable case studies for future brand marketing.
In the Super Bowl, known as the "American Spring Festival Gala", the charm of artificial intelligence (AI) does not seem to touch the hearts of the audience. As the advertising peddler for this grand event, OpenAI showed off its brand advertisement for the first time, but was greeted by audience feedback. The cost of this ad exceeded 10 million US dollars, but the effect was disappointing.
The Super Bowl is the annual NFL final. Because it is similar to the Chinese Lunar New Year's Day, it is often regarded as the "Spring Festival Gala" for Americans. This game is not only a sports event, but also the best time for major brands to compete to place advertisements. OpenAI launched its first ad since its founding in 2015 during this Super Bowl, looking forward to taking this opportunity to demonstrate its cutting-edge position in the AI field.
However, according to the US Today ad review, OpenAI's ads ranked 53rd out of 57 participating ads. It is remarkable that as many as 32% of viewers gave it the lowest rating of 1 (out of 5). point). In contrast, a warm story about the Clydairy foal by Budweiser ranked first on the advertising list, showing the powerful appeal of emotional marketing.
OpenAI's advertising theme revolves around the advancement of human history, showing the discovery of fire, the invention of wheels and light bulbs, DNA sequencing and other major moments, and ultimately climaxed with the application of modern artificial intelligence. Although its creative part was conceived with the help of video generation tool Sora, the overall production failed to meet the audience's expectations.
The failure of this ad also reflects a trend: on platforms like Super Bowl, viewers tend to be more emotional and warm stories than cold technological innovations. In sharp contrast, most of the top-ranked advertisements are based on emotions, which fully mobilizes the audience's resonance. Experts in the advertising industry pointed out that the influence of emotions and celebrities is far beyond pure technical publicity, and brands should pay more attention to emotional connection.
Although OpenAI's ambitions in advertising delivery failed, this event provides valuable experience for future advertising strategies. How to find a balance between technology and emotion will be a question that brands need to think carefully in communication.
OpenAI’s Super Bowl advertising case warns us that successful brand marketing not only requires technological innovation, but also requires touching emotional resonance. How to incorporate emotional elements into technical publicity is the direction that future brands need to think deeply about. The failed advertising also provides valuable lessons for other tech companies.