It wasn’t quite a Super Bowl, or even a super night of witty real-time marketing but college football’s national championship game Monday night turned out to be a nice warmup for the upcoming bigger game.
The college football championship presented a larger target this year, given that it was the culmination of the NCAA’s first playoffs for major college football, following semifinal games on New Year’s Day that each drew a record cable-television audience of more than 28 million.
There was no obvious or overwhelming winner among the handful of brands that joined the conversation of Twitter during the game, which was won 42-20 by Ohio State.
Turnovers — Ohio State gave up the ball four times — got most of the attention early with Arby’s and Men’s Humor weighing with pastry jibes (that are becoming standard fare for football games):
This #OREvsOSU game brought to you by… pic.twitter.com/9gnhIHoJNt — Men's Humor (@MensHumor) January 13, 2015
When this game started we thought we made the most turnovers. #OREvsOSU — Arby's (@Arbys) January 13, 2015
Butterfinger, the Nestle brand, chimed in on the turnover theme with a play on its slippery namesake candy:
Seriously, what's this ball made of tonight? #OREvsOSU pic.twitter.com/Dwn6KiFPur — Nestle Butterfinger (@Butterfinger) January 13, 2015
Butterfinger’s tweet, in fact, came after several other brands, including Pac Sun, jokingly accused the candy company of sabotage:
@Butterfinger you have anything to do w that drop?! #NCAAFFCA — PacSun (@PacSun) January 13, 2015
Taco Bell, which sponsored student sections in the stadium for both teams, providing 1,000 free tickets for each, stayed neutral:
The Live Más Student Sections are going nuts. Who do you think will take it? #UOvsOSU pic.twitter.com/2PokxBc46y — Taco Bell (@tacobell) January 13, 2015
Whataburger didn’t play favorites either, tweeting before the game:
Retweet for DucksFavorite for Bucks Follow for Beef — Whataburger® (@Whataburger) January 13, 2015
Denny’s, a seasoned veteran of the RTM game, again didn’t pull any punches. Last year after Auburn’s loss to Florida State in the BCS championship game, Denny’s taunted Auburn fans with a map showing Denny’s locations on the drive home from the Rose Bowl to Alabama. This year seconds after Ohio State took a 35-20 lead over the Ducks early in the fourth quarter, Denny’s tweeted this:
we don't serve roast duck but if we did we'd stick a fork in it — Denny's (@DennysDiner) January 13, 2015
But the best line of the night came not from a brand but from comedian Bob Newhart. Like many viewers, Newhart noticed a uncanny resemblance to the game’s head referee, and tweeted:
In regards to my new career as head ref for #OSUvsORE – Hey, I don't have a series any more – I had to do something. #OSUvsORE — Bob Newhart (@BobNewhart) January 13, 2015
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