After all the hype and the build-up, on Sunday night it finally arrived: the 50th Super Bowl, the event of the year in the US and one of the biggest in the world with more than 150 million watchers worldwide.
Evidently, following an important social activation on Twitter, the #SB50 was also played out on social media generating 27 million tweets across the world.
Here’s how social users, especially on Twitter and Snapchat, reacted to the fixture of the year.
— Nigel de Jong (@NDJ_Official) February 7, 2016
An event tweeted like never before
A year, months, weeks, hours, minutes… millions of people had been counting down to kick-off.
Kickoff is in exactly 24 hours…#CARvsDEN #SB50 pic.twitter.com/PFPYHZhyKO
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) February 6, 2016
20 mins to kick off. Fans taking their seats @LevisStadium &the colour is overwhelmingly orange! #SB50 @SkySportsNFL pic.twitter.com/5EIQO3MFwp
— Richard Graves (@RichardGraves1) February 7, 2016
Our fingers and tentacles are ready for #SB50! Time for kick off! #AvosInSpace pic.twitter.com/QtZQHgKKeH
— Avocados From Mexico (@AvosFromMexico) February 7, 2016
This is our kind of kickoff. #SB50 #Pacifica pic.twitter.com/NvUrk4XYSa
— Chrysler (@Chrysler) February 7, 2016
Kick off. #SB50 https://t.co/5jRaIRpEod
— Alexandra Willis (@alex_willis) February 7, 2016
After four quarters, one show by Coldplay, Beyonce and Bruno Mars, $5 million per ad and more than 1 billion chicken wings eaten, Denver Broncos won their third Super Bowl and are in paradise. On the losing side, Carolina Panthers took it well and acknowledged the champions.
Let the confetti fall!
Hey Denver, the #Broncos just won the Super Bowl!!! #SB50 pic.twitter.com/l74rZxgbJ6
— NFL (@NFL) February 8, 2016
We did it!!! #SB50 https://t.co/fPQ6o2Hopr
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) February 8, 2016
#Mood #SuperBroncos pic.twitter.com/OPRX1UTDLL
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) February 8, 2016
Congratulations @Broncos. It was an honor to face the best. #SB50 pic.twitter.com/qStS1GlalI
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) February 8, 2016
EXTRA! EXTRA! #SB50 pic.twitter.com/X3AGfjgqBn
— NFL (@NFL) February 8, 2016
The Sheriff is a #SB50 champion! pic.twitter.com/KnZIUiBzyd
— NFL (@NFL) February 8, 2016
Other athletes were also following the event. Marshawn Lynch announced his retirement on Twitter during the game, getting more than 200k retweets, while NBA superstar Stephen Curry, great Panthers fan, was a good loser who took the result with a pinch of humour.
— Marshawn Lynch (@MoneyLynch) February 8, 2016
A Look into my soul right now…but it's all good we will be back! pic.twitter.com/fKbDjGx0on
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) February 8, 2016
Brands also took the lead on Twitter to share their best content, starting with Pepsi, Halftime Show Owner, who apparently felt very proud of their achievement. Happily, Kia Motors was there to calm them down a bit.
What was the best part of #PepsiHalftime?
— Pepsi (@pepsi) February 8, 2016
.@Pepsi. You got it. You supply the drinks, we supply the ride. Cup holders included! #AddPizzazz pic.twitter.com/DpfKdQYmGX
— Kia America (@Kia) February 8, 2016
Doritos, the second most mentioned brand during the game, had already get its Broncos packet ready to celebrate the champs!
Congratulations to the @Broncos. You’ve been bold, you deserve this. #Doritos #SB50 pic.twitter.com/2bqMPjgry7
— Doritos (@Doritos) February 8, 2016
Finally, the most mentioned brand overall is…Esurance. Yes, an online insurance as top brand during the Super Bowl on social media. How? Esurance gave away $1 million to users tweeting the hashtag #Esurancesweepstakes during the game. Not exactly creative but you can’t argue with 835,000 tweets!
The trophy’s been awarded, but we still have $250K to give away. #EsuranceSweepstakes #SB50 pic.twitter.com/FdAfQ84q1O
— Esurance (@esurance) February 8, 2016
Of course, when millions of social users are following an event, a couple of them can’t help trolling and joking. Check out below the best content off the wall.
https://twitter.com/KIausner/status/696538379370909697
Oh my. #SB50 pic.twitter.com/Q3LT56vcP9
— Will Reeve Jr. (@WillReeveJr) February 8, 2016
https://twitter.com/Team_Athlete/status/696545160314949632
I HATE THE INTERNET #SB50
😂😂😂😭😭😭😫😫 pic.twitter.com/4nMeQqsFFD— New York, New York! (@NYC) February 8, 2016
https://twitter.com/PalletTownKid/status/696568127413481472
https://twitter.com/BreatheSport/status/696642181465903104
Snapchat sees double
Of course, Twitter is the best platform for commenting on this kind of event. But once again, Snapchat is here to unveil not one, but two stories. A first for the platform.
One from fans at the stadium, starting with US President Barack Obama himself from the White House to kick the story off.
One from different places worldwide including Mexico, Denver, Carolina, Paris, US military base in Afghanistan… and more to share people’s enthusiasm across the world.
.@POTUS is ready for #SB50. Watch his warm up tosses on the #SuperBowl50 @Snapchat story. pic.twitter.com/AOhvQRqg2d
— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) February 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/Delmondo/status/696478791133229061
