ASMR commercial debuts during the Super Bowl

ASMR made it to the Super Bowl.

On Feb 3, 2019, an ASMR commercial featuring Zoe Kravitz and Michelob Ultra Pure Gold played during the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl.

In full disclosure, I was the ASMR consultant for the past couple of months to the creative and production teams behind the commercial.  These individuals truly wanted to understand ASMR and represent it appropriately in the commercial – and I think they did a fantastic job, as do some ASMR artists.

The ASMR artist, Somni Rosae, sent me the following email:

“Hi Dr. Richard!  Have you seen the new beer ad for the Super Bowl?  Personally, I think this is the first ad I think the advertising agencies got it right.  Cheers, Somni”

The ASMR artist, Gibi ASMR, commented on the commercial in the Chicago Tribune:

“I thought it was awesome. They hit the nail on the head. You can tell they did their research: They had the binaural microphones, had her whispering back and forth. They had tapping, nice sounds. They definitely watched content and had done their research on what ASMR is supposed to be. They, of course, blew it up, made it Hollywood, used a big budget, and so it was very cool. They were accurate.”

The video is currently posted on the YouTube channel for Michelob Ultra (it is the most viewed video on the channel) and contains positive comments from additional ASMR artists like ASMR DarlingfastASMRKaruna Satori ASMRThe ASMR RyanASMR Destiny, Holly ASMR, and Tyson ASMR.

The production was selected as one of the 10 Best Super Bowl Commercials by The Washington PostThrillist, and Oprah Magazine, and five months later was described as,the prime example of an incredibly successful ASMR brand advertisement.The Pantagraph also selected it as a “Super Bowl Winner.”

How did the ASMR-inspired ad affect sales? Azania Andrews, VP of Marketing for Michelob Ultra, said sales volume for the beer grew in the triple digits following the airing of the ad“.

My favorite article about the commercial was by Dr William Halligan, a dentist in San Diego who saw it and asked, “what in the world was this?”   Dr Halligan then went searching about ASMR and even strapped a heart rate monitor on himself to see his physiological response to ASMR videos.

The Super Bowl commercial is linked below and here are some of the key ASMR elements to watch for:

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ASMR commercials – a growing trend

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityIn 2015, Dove chocolate probably created the first ASMR-inspired commercial.

In 2016, more companies followed, including Pepsi, KFC, and Ritz Crackers.

And since then, the list has been growing steadily to include Ikea, Applebee’s, McDonalds, Renault, Toyota, Sony, Zippo lighters, MTV, Behr paint, and more.

I won’t say they all succeeded in making ideal ASMR-triggering videos – some definitely understood ASMR better than others.

But I think they all did succeed in highlighting their products or message in a relaxing way.  ASMR has inspired a new wave of commercials that don’t yell at you, push their products on you, demand you buy right now, and add to your daily stress.

Interested in viewing these low-key, relaxing commercials?

I’ve just created a new page on this website dedicated solely to ASMR-inspired commercials.  I will keep adding to the page as more are produced, so feel free to revisit it occasionally to see the list grow.

Some of the commercials that I think have the best ASMR triggers include Dove chocolate, Ritz crackers, Michelob Ultra, Renault, and Ikea.

Visit the new page: ASMR Commercials

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Sony uses ASMR videos to promote the Sony Xperia XZ1 phone

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversitySony joins Toyota, Pepsi, KFC, Dove, Ritz, IKEA, and Glenmorangie Whisky  in utilizing ASMR videos for marketing.

The ASMR-style videos highlight the video recording quality of the Sony Xperia XZ1 phone.  The full campaign and videos are posted on the website of Carphone Warehouse, the top independent mobile online retailer in the UK.

What prompted Carphone Warehouse and Sony to create ASMR videos to help promote the Xperia XZ1 phone?

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Toyota announces commercials with ASMR technology

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityJoining the group of Pepsi, KFC, Dove, Ritz, and IKEA, Toyota announces ASMR-inspired commercials.

According to their September 1 2017 news release about the “Sensations” marketing campaign for the 2018 Camry,

“A different creative execution incorporates ASMR technology (autonomous sensory meridian response) – a tingling many people experience when listening to certain sounds – to magnify sensations, create rich sight and sound content and highlight the extraordinary features of the new Camry.”

There is a problem though.  I didn’t find strong evidence of ASMR-inspiration in the nine campaign videos I watched.

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An update on the data collected from the Dove Chocolate ASMR-inspired commercials

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversitySeveral months ago I reported about Dove Chocolate releasing two ASMR-inspired marketing videos.

The videos were well done and it was exciting to see a big name company incorporate ASMR into a marketing campaign.

I was even more excited by a report that they collected physiological data from viewers of these videos and the data will be made publicly available – as announced in an online article on October 23, 2015,

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