Pringles' Super Bowl Commercial Has People Divided
Once upon a time, astronauts were legends. National heroes. So when did they become such an everyday commodity that we could forget about their majestic return to Earth because of potato chips? Do we blame Elon Musk?
In a Super Bowl LV commercial that harkened to the early days of the space program (has Gen Z heard of lunar pods?), Pringles would have you believe (and who are we to argue?) that their flavored chips, when stacked, are mind-blowing enough to cause the folks at Mission Control to lose their collective minds and miss the astronauts' lunar pod water landing. Our just-back-from-the-stratosphere protagonists are stranded somewhere in the ocean. But it gets worse. After what we can assume is hours or days, an approaching fishing boat seems to be the beleagured astronauts' saving grace, until we see the ship's crew is similarly distracted by — you guessed it — a Pringles stack.
Because expectations are so high for Super Bowl ads, the Pringles spot generated lots of opinions on Twitter. Some loved it, some thought the ad fell flat.
The Pringles' Super Bowl ad polarized viewers
So what did Super Bowl LV viewers think of Pringles' space-age spot? On Twitter, one user commented that the commercial "left me wanting a different chip company." On the same thread, another lamented that the stacks "didn't get gross enough".
Others enjoyed the joke, with one fan posting, "Pringles are so good that you'll leave people to die at sea." And the ad had some retro flair. One viewer captured the mood, noting, "You have to be a certain age to know why a space capsule would be in the ocean."
What's more, many people wondered if Pringles are a good luck charm for the Kansas City Chiefs, citing the team's 41-yard kick return right after the airing of the Pringles commercial. The Chief who made the play? None other than 27-year old wide receiver Byron Pringle. That's right, Pringle, as in the chip. That's some synergy, but a missed marketing opportunity that made Twitter sad. One post read: "I just don't understand why @Pringles didn't capitalize on @pringle_byron playing in the super bowl. COME ON NOW!"
As for the flavor stacks that Pringles has been pushing since the 2018 Super Bowl (per The Drum)? We're wondering how many people, whether they're at NASA, at sea or in front of their TVs are actually eating chips like this.