The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2023
Tubi fakes a TV hijack during the Super Bowl — top-trending brand, Grand Effie 2024
A 15-second Super Bowl spot makes viewers think their TV switched to Tubi — turning a product demo into a national prank and the night's most-talked-about ad.
Tubi (Fox Corporation)
What it had to solve
Tubi had existed for a decade but awareness was low, and dozens of streamers were fighting for American attention. Its Super Bowl debut had 15 expensive seconds to make the country understand what the brand even is.
How it works
Tubi, Fox Corporation's free ad-supported streamer, had been in the market for a decade, yet most Americans had never heard of it: many had unwittingly downloaded the app and forgotten it. Meanwhile the streaming category had exploded from one platform to dozens fighting for attention, and Tubi was not winning that battle.
For its Super Bowl debut it went brand-first rather than title-first. At halftime a 60-second 'Rabbit Holes' spot showed giant rabbits plucking people from everyday life and dropping them into worlds of content. In the fourth quarter, a 15-second 'Interface Interruption' promo made the broadcast seem to return from break with Fox Sports announcers Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen — until a menu popped up, scrolled through Tubi's library and selected a show, convincing millions they had accidentally changed the channel or sat on the remote.
The prank became the story. Tubi was the top-trending brand on X during the game, its new visitors jumped 40% within 24 hours, viewing time rose 38%, brand awareness nearly doubled, and the company posted successive quarters of record revenue. The work won the 2024 US Grand Effie, five Cannes Lions including a Gold for Use of Screens, and the Super Clio for the best Big Game ad.
Why it lands
- The ad performed the product: the fake channel change literally demonstrated the content rabbit holes Tubi offered.
- It converted 15 seconds of paid media into earned media — millions of confused viewers spread the moment themselves.
- The prank played on the biggest stage, so the scale of the stunt matched the scale of the brand's ambition.
- The brief was personality-first, not title-first: Tubi showed what it is rather than listing shows, which was repeatable in later campaigns.
What it did
Tubi became the top-trending brand on X, gained a 40% lift in new visitors within 24 hours, increased viewing time by 38%, nearly doubled brand awareness and drove successive quarters of record revenue.
What you can take
A challenger can make the interruption itself the message: instead of buying attention, the ad performed the product — a disruptive detour into its library — so the mistake was the pitch.
Since then
Beyond the 2024 US Grand Effie, the campaign won Effies in Marketing Disruptors, Media Innovation and Timely Opportunity plus two B2B Effies, five Cannes Lions and the Super Clio. Tubi's CMO Nicole Parlapiano credited the brand listening to fan communities, and said the interface-interruption idea lived on in later campaigns as Tubi kept playing the troublemaker of streaming.
Sources
- First the Super Bowl, now the Grand Effie – Tubi wins top award at 2024 Effie Awards US
- Tubi Throws People Down Rabbit Holes and Hijacks Super Bowl Screens to Introduce Its Brand Personality to the World
- Tubi: Interface Interruption
- Tubi Wins Five Cannes Lions Awards for Its 'Interface Interruption' Super Bowl Spot
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