R/GA and Reddit’s ‘Superb Owl’ Disrupts the Ad World

08 February 2021

Companies

In the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, a small group on Reddit, called r/WallStreetBets, took the financial world by storm, sparking a national media frenzy and challenging the system by driving up the prices of seemingly underwhelming stocks.

With a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity standing before them, Reddit needed to capitalize on the moment and the opportunity to disrupt the ad world. Teaming up with R/GA, Reddit aired a 5-second, low budget commercial during the Super Bowl, proving that small groups – and small brands – can achieve some pretty massive things.

“Superb Owl” stood out like a sore thumb with a glitchy, branded, old-school “please stand by” art card, which was followed by a static long-copy slide, which spoke to the Reddit community and their mindset, championing the power of small groups of passionate people to achieve great things.

Too long for anyone to read, the ad forced viewers to either pause, rewind, or go online to get the message, which was loaded with easter eggs, including a nod to the sub-Reddit “r/superbowl,” which is actually “Superb Owl” and home to a group of passionate owl lovers.

R/GA and Reddit’s 5-second ad was the most watched and re-watched ad of the game, hauling in a staggering 6.5 billion impressions and having features in more than 300 media outlets, including in The New York Times and Fast Company. But most impressive, “Superb Owl” drove record numbers to the site, with traffic spiking by over 25%.

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