It’s something ingrained in us over the years. After the Super Bowl, we eagerly look for a breakdown of the big game’s best TV ads, gobbling up the rankings on USA Today and other sites, debating the spots on text strings and reading the postgame social media reactions.
But what about the best out of home Super Bowl ads? When the NFL’s premier event comes to town, many advertisers want to get in on the action in the city, too, which ignites with buzz over the game leading up to the event.
That excitement was even more notable this year because the Super Bowl took place in Los Angeles, one of the nation’s top two OOH markets, along with New York City. DASH TWO is headquartered in LA, and we can tell you from firsthand experience that we saw a lot of ads — though, it turned out, not as many as we expected thanks to the National Football League’s rather avaricious advertising standards.
Since 1969, the NFL has held a trademark for Super Bowl, and it protects that trademark zealously. Advertisers who are not official big game sponsors and use the term “Super Bowl” will receive cease-and-desist letters. That includes restaurants that advertise Super Bowl specials or even, in one famous case, a church that advertised a Super Bowl watch party.
So advertisers had to be cagey in referencing the Super Bowl if they lack a sponsorship deal in place with the league. Even so, we found lots of examples of brilliant creative around town that captured people’s attention and got them talking.
We went around town photographing the best Super Bowl-themed billboards, digital displays and more for the 2022 game. Here, we’ve ranked the top 10 OOH ads in Los Angeles for Super Bowl LVI.
1. Pepsi Logo at Randy’s Donuts
Pepsi is sponsoring the Super Bowl halftime show once again, and if you landed in LA with no prior knowledge of Super Bowl ads, you might think the advertiser is the only company with a stake in the game. The distinctive Pepsi logo is on display everywhere, including at an Inglewood landmark, Randy’s Donuts. It’s known for the giant donut on top of the building, and right now that giant donut has the Pepsi logo in the middle. Simple. Direct. Genius.
Vendor: WOW Media
Agency: OMD
Location: Manchester and 405
2. Halftime Pepsi Ad
Did we mention already how many Pepsi ads there are in LA? So very many. Another standout sits in downtown LA, a spectacular hand painted advertising the impressive halftime show sponsored by Pepsi. It includes the artists performing in the show as well as their names, and it grabs the eye from far away. With the blue-toned picture and absolutely huge presence, it’s a definite highlight of the city.
Vendor: Colossal Media
Agency: OMD
Location: Olympic & Figueroa, Downtown LA