Lackluster Bowl Generates Phenomenal Tweets

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You know it’s a crappy Super Bowl when the most interesting part is the lights going out. But that didn’t stop people from talking about it online: despite the general tedium of a one-sided game and a raft of totally insipid, uninspired advertising, Super Bowl XLVII generated a whole bunch of activity of Twitter, proving that people will talk about pretty much anything, even if it’s just to say they can’t see what’s going on.

According to SocialGuide, there were around 26.1 million Super Bowl-related tweets generated during the game by 5.28 million unique Twitter users. SocialGuide points out that that is almost as much as the total for all three presidential debates, which together generated 27.63 million tweets (10.87 million for the first debate, 10.28 million for the second, and 6.48 million for the third). That might seem strange, considering the former is just a football game and the latter concerned our national destiny, but remember: the debates didn’t have awesome ads from beer brands bragging about how they invited a bunch of attractive people in dark clothes to a party to drink their beer.

The Social Guide tally is a bit higher than Twitter’s own official count, which puts the number of Super Bowl-related tweets at 24.1 million tweets. Beyonce’s halftime performance accounted for fully 5.5 million tweets, or about a fifth of the total, peaking at 268,000 tweets per minute. The grand total is still up from 13.7 million tweets for last year’s game, and even beats the 23 million tweets generated during the last six hours of the presidential election. Again, that second statistic might prompt you to question our national priorities, but remember: the election didn’t have touching spots about the enduring love of a man for a furry horse.

Anyway, it wasn’t just social media where the mediocre bowl reigned supreme: according CBS, Super Bowl XLVII had the highest ratings of any Super Bowl since Nielsen started measuring, viewed by 48.1% of the households in the U.S. That’s also the highest rating ever earned for a goldfish singing to a beverage.

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6 comments on "Lackluster Bowl Generates Phenomenal Tweets".

1. Susan Roane from The RoAne Group
   

   commented on: February 4, 2013 at 12:34 p.m.
   The tweet stream and facebook updates were fun, informative and interesting. Many of the ads were entertaining, some touching and a few were underpar.Beyonce was electrifying (as evidenced by the post performance surge and power outage). But to say the Superbowl was lackluster must mean you're referring to the first half...pre-power shortage. After that, the 49ers made a stunning and unprecedented comeback that was exciting football up till the last seconds. Disclaimer: I'm a 49er fan who only wished their surge would have had 4 more points.
2. Craig Waller from Pace Communications
   

   commented on: February 4, 2013 at 12:39 p.m.
   Looks like you accidentally activated your Macbook Pro snark filter - it's hard to argue the dyspeptic view when all the data is telling you the opposite. Just ask Mitt...
3. Brian Locicero from Kantar Operations
   

   commented on: February 4, 2013 at 4:19 p.m.
   Lackluster? I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you had to meet a deadline to submit your post but when you're quoting the Nielsen numbers, that means you didn't. Also, if you want to say the advertising is insipid and uninspired, blame every single 'interest group' out there who claims victim status when creative work gets done. They have now created a culture where everyone is offended and no one can take a chance. Also blame the fact that every advertiser is now leaking their ads days in advance of their 'big buy'. There used to be a surprise factor for every ad during the game, now it's "oh, i saw that one on YouTube the other day".
4. Erik Sass from mediapostpublications
   

   commented on: February 4, 2013 at 4:40 p.m.
   I can definitely agree with you that worrying about everyone's sensitivities makes for less interesting commercials overall. Humor requires pushing boundaries. It's worth noting that the funniest/best-liked ad this time around was also the least "PC."
5. David Cooperstein from Forrester Research
   

   commented on: February 4, 2013 at 4:51 p.m.
   Lackluster? You clearly tuned out during the blackout. The advertising was tame and traditional, but there were some bright spots along the way. But I do agree that the tweet stream was awesome. The comments about the blackout itself were priceless bits of humor. Also, check your context. If the "mediocre bowl reigned supreme" according to Nielsen, was it really that mediocre? Sounds like it was just the BrandBowl that missed the mark, while the tension of the game, the outage, and the social stream were quite amazing.
6. Erik Sass from mediapostpublications
   

   commented on: February 4, 2013 at 5:33 p.m.
   My disappointment was definitely more directed at the ads than the game itself. Yes, the second half was definitely better than the first, but I will admit I kind of lost interest by that point. I probably would have been more invested If I were rooting for one of the teams. I stand by my statement that most of the ads sucked!

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