And here’s the surprising commercial that officially won the Super Bowl
So, Super Bowl commercials are kind of a big deal, especially considering that 30 seconds of airtime costs a not-so-casual $5 million. While this can be great promotion for companies that can afford it, it’s definitely not easy to score (pun intended) a Super Bowl ad when you’re a small business owner.
To literally change the game of Super Bowl commercials, accounting software company Intuit QuickBooks decided to hold a contest asking small business owners to answer a series of questions and participate in various activities. Then, once voters had their say, the business with the most votes would receive their very own Super Bowl ad… for FREE!
With only eleven employees (they just hired two more), upstate New York-based Death Wish Coffee won the big prize and, considering that they’ve only been in business since 2012, this is a highly impressive feat. “It’s gonna fast forward us about 10 years down the road in about 30 seconds,” owner Michael Brown told CBS News.
The ad itself features a ship full of Vikings sailing on a dark sea, crying that they “awaken and welcome death,” and that they will soon be drinking “in the heart of Valhalla.” In other words, they’re sailing on a sea of coffee that’s soon to be consumed, but they’re proud to die for such an honorable cause. (Pretty intense, huh? I mean, they don’t call it the “World’s Strongest Coffee” for nothing.)
Now, the question is: can the eleven Death Wish Coffee employees handle the influx of orders that’s presumably coming their way?
“On my own, with my small, nine-person [now eleven-person] staff? Probably not,” Brown said. “We’re attempting to get about a quarter of a million pounds in our distribution centers ready to ship for the day of the big game.”
Based on what the small business tweeted this morning, we have a feeling that they’re already thankful to have caffeine at their fingertips:
Overall, we’d like more small business commercials like this, please.