You could have been forgiven for missing Reddit’s Super Bowl ad tonight — it was only five seconds long. The ad mostly consisted of a text message that would’ve been pretty difficult to read in the moment, claiming that the company spent its “entire marketing budget on five seconds of airtime.”
“One thing we learned from our communities last week is that underdogs can accomplish anything when they come together around a common idea,” Reddit says by way of explanation, in a clear nod to the GameStop stocks saga that was driven by posters on the r/WallStreetBets subreddit. “Who knows, maybe you’ll be the reason finance textbooks have to add a chapter on ‘tendies.’”
You can watch the ad above, but here’s the full text in case it’s too small on your phone screen:
Wow, this actually worked.
If you’re reading this, it means our bet paid off.
Big game spots are expensive, so we couldn’t buy a full one. But we were inspired and decided to spend our entire marketing budget on 5 seconds of airtime. One thing we learned from our communities last week is that underdogs can accomplish anything when they come together around a common idea.
Who knows, maybe you’ll be the reason finance textbooks have to add a chapter on “tendies.” Maybe you’ll help r/SuperbOwl teach the world about the majesty of owls. Maybe you’ll even pause this 5-second ad.
Powerful things happen when people rally around something they really care about. And there’s a place for that. It’s called Reddit.
