The winner of Sunday’s big game was technically the Los Angeles Rams, who defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in a close score of 23 to 20. But when it came to the commercials that ran during the Super Bowl, Anna Kendrick reigned supreme.
That’s according to USA Today, which conducted its 34th annual Ad Meter, a poll that allows voters to nominate their favorite commercials. And this year, Kendrick’s 60-second spot for Rocket Mortgage edged out the competition — just beating out Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost, who appeared in an Amazon Alexa commercial.
The 60-second spot — an eight-figure investment with ad rates going for $6.5 million for 30 seconds — scored a 6.82 rating among voters, edging out Amazon’s “Mind Reader,” which registered a 6.78. Ad Meter, in its 34th year, ranks commercials by consumer rating with panelists scoring each ad on a 1-to-10 scale.
The results are eerily similar to 2021, in which Rocket Mortgage prevailed on the strength of comedian Tracy Morgan and Los Angeles Chargers strongman Joey Bosa in “Certain is Better,” which claimed the top two spots at 7.38 and 7.30, with Amazon again the next to break through at 6.75.
In the commercial, Kendrick assists Barbie in finding her dream house with the help of the Rocket Homes app, amid a sea of Better Offer Bettys, Cash Offer Carls, and House Flipper Skippers in an overwhelmingly competitive housing market. Interestingly enough, Rocket Mortgage was one of the new companies which did not release its commercial online ahead of the game (as approximately three-quarters of brands do these days) — instead, opting for a 30-second teaser.
It probably also didn’t hurt that the Pitch Perfect star likewise teased the spot on Twitter leading up to the big day, and then directed her seven million followers to vote in the poll.
Though USA Today points out that “it’s not immediately clear how Rocket eradicates the evils of this ecosystem in which it operates,” seeing Barbie land her dream home was at least a nice distraction, however temporary it was. See how your favorites scored in the poll here.
