The 2024 Super Bowl saw contrasting approaches to commercials.
For instance, Verizon opted for a high-production ad featuring Beyoncé, reportedly costing a whopping $30 million.
In contrast, Kanye West, who changed his name to Ye in 2022, took a low-budget route, filming his Yeezy ad on his iPhone in the backseat of a car, which cost him nothing.
“Since we spent all the money on the commercial spot, we didn’t spend any money on the actual commercial,” the “Gold Digger” artist said in the ad, flashing his titanium teeth worth $850,000.
A 30-second spot at this year’s Big Game cost $7 million, the highest in Super Bowl advertising history.
The ad abruptly ends after West directs viewers to visit yeezy.com to look at his shoes.
“I got some shoes, and mmm, that’s it.”
There’s no script and no semblance of cinematography. It was just the controversial rapper filming a selfie.
And yet, it raked in $19.3 million in Yeezy sales, which is over 150% return on investment (ROI).
However, the ad's effectiveness as a marketing strategy is open to debate.
While its low-cost, do-it-yourself approach resonated with some viewers, others criticized it for being unprofessional and lacking polish.
Furthermore, the ad's success might be partly attributed to its novelty value, potentially raising questions about its long-term effectiveness as a marketing strategy.
It can also be argued that the ad worked only because it was West who did it.
Ye Knows How to Draw Attention to Himself
West, who watched the Big Game at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, already drew attention with his 1996 Alexander McQueen mask that completely covered his face.
The mask had a crucified figure of Jesus Christ right in the middle.
Couple this with his weird Super Bowl commercial, and the internet exploded, many with accusations of antisemitism.
It didn’t matter that West reportedly wore the mask to honor the 14th death anniversary of the designer.
Kanye West wears the Alexander McQueen Dante mask from 1996 at the #SuperBowl in honor of the late designer who passed away 14 years ago today. pic.twitter.com/aBnPY81Rij
— disroptive (@disroptive) February 12, 2024
Ye made the news several times over the years for his antisemitic statements and social media posts. He also received enormous backlash for wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt at his Paris fashion show.
And it is because of these incidents that brands like Adidas, Balenciaga, and Foot Locker terminated whatever business partnerships they had with Ye or Yeezy, reportedly causing West to lose $2 billion.
Despite this, Ye’s fanbase remains strong, which is most probably one of the reasons why his Super Bowl ad made a killing in Yeezy sales.
