ARCHIVE02.02.2020
The campaign 02.02.2020, created for Pepsi by the renowned agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners and...
Avocados from Mexico Brings a Dog Show Twist to Super Bowl 2019
Avocados from Mexico's 'Top Dog' is a 30-second Super Bowl commercial created by Energy BBDO and aired on February 3, 2019 during Super Bowl LIII in the United States, starring Kristin Chenoweth in a role-reversed dog show where humans compete for an avocado trophy under the gaze of canine judges.
The spot marks Avocados from Mexico's fifth consecutive year purchasing Super Bowl inventory, a run of Food and Drink advertising that has made the brand one of the most reliably present non-beer, non-snack advertisers during the Big Game. 'Top Dog' sits within the brand's broader 'Always Worth It' campaign platform, using absurdist humour to position Mexican avocados as the undisputed prize worth competing for — whether you are a person or, in this fictional universe, a dog's chosen champion. A 60-second online version of the film extended the concept beyond the television broadcast, giving the creative room to breathe for audiences encountering it outside the live game context.
In the United States, avocado consumption has grown substantially over the preceding decade, making the Super Bowl an especially strategic placement for a produce marketing organisation seeking to connect the fruit with guacamole culture at the moment Americans consume it most heavily. According to prnewswire.com, more than 285 million pounds of Mexican avocados were imported into the United States during the five weeks preceding the 2019 Big Game alone, underlining the commercial logic behind sustained Super Bowl investment. The campaign was submitted to the global advertising archive and recorded on Clapboard.com, where it carries a Clapboard Score of 61 out of 100, reflecting competent execution of an established brand formula within a crowded Super Bowl Commercials 2019 field.
Avocados from Mexico is a marketing organisation with a clear seasonal mandate. Founded in 2013 by the Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association and the Avocado Producers and Exporting Packers Association of Mexico, as documented by avocadosfrommexico.com, the brand exists to stimulate year-round demand for Mexican avocados in the United States market, with the Super Bowl serving as its single highest-reach annual moment. By the time 'Top Dog' aired, according to prnewswire.com, the brand's preceding five years of Super Bowl advertising had generated more than 27 billion impressions, establishing a cumulative awareness asset that any single year's creative inherits.
The strategic insight driving 'Top Dog' is uncomplicated but well-targeted: guacamole is among the most consumed foods on Super Bowl Sunday in the United States, and the brand that owns that cultural moment owns a meaningful share of the purchase decision. Energy BBDO, which had won the Avocados from Mexico account the year prior, according to Ad Age, used the role-reversed dog show concept to make the product the aspirational object of desire rather than simply a featured ingredient. Humans performing dog-show tricks — sitting, shaking, staying — for canine judges, all competing for an avocado-and-guacamole prize, translates brand benefit into visual comedy without requiring a single nutrition claim.
In the United States Food and Drink advertising landscape during 2019, Avocados from Mexico faced indirect competition from established snack brands such as Doritos and Pringles, both of which also invested in Super Bowl LIII inventory and targeted the same snacking occasion. The brand's decision to maintain category exclusivity through entertainment rather than product demonstration reflects an understanding that Super Bowl viewers reward creative audacity over informational messaging. The 'Always Worth It' platform gave Energy BBDO a consistent creative frame within which to operate, ensuring that the absurdist humour of 'Top Dog' read as brand-coherent rather than opportunistic.
Energy BBDO assembled a specific creative leadership structure for 'Top Dog'. Chief Creative Officer Andrés Ordoñez oversaw the work, with Executive Creative Directors Josh Gross and Pedro Pérez leading the concepting process, according to credits documented by latinspots.com and reelchicago.com. Creative Directors Alejandro Juli and Manuel Torres shaped the execution, supported by Senior Copywriters Colin O'Toole and Paul Carpenter alongside Senior Art Directors Hansel Quintela and Chris George. The production was managed by Head of Integrated Production John Pratt and Senior Producer Jeff Davis, with Associate Producer Brittany Peskind also credited.
The film was directed by the duo known as Adam and Dave, working through production company Arts and Sciences, with Executive Producer Marc Marrie overseeing the shoot, per credits recorded by latinspots.com and reelchicago.com. The editorial craft was handled by Kevin Zimmer. The choice of a directing duo with experience in comedic performance-driven advertising was well-matched to a concept that required precise comic timing from human performers executing dog behaviours on a formalised dog-show set, all framed with the visual grammar of televised competition broadcasting.
Kristin Chenoweth's casting as commentator grounds the absurdism in recognisable celebrity authority. Her theatrical background and comedic credibility allow the 'Annual Human Canine Show' conceit to operate as satire rather than mere silliness, lending the fictional event a weight that the joke requires to land. The production existed in two formats — a 30-second television cut for Super Bowl LIII and a 60-second online version, as reported by Ad Age — giving the creative team the architecture to develop character and situation more fully in the longer format while distilling the sharpest moment for the broadcast spot. The set design and costuming of the human competitors reinforced the dog-show format with enough detail to reward repeated viewing.
No verified third-party performance data for 'Top Dog' measuring brand lift, purchase intent, or television viewership response is publicly available at the time of this analysis. Ispot.tv, which tracks Super Bowl commercial performance, listed the spot among Super Bowl LIII advertisements, and adsoftheworld.com archived the creative, but neither source published quantified effectiveness metrics specific to this execution.
Structural analysis offers a reasonable proxy for effectiveness. The campaign inherited a platform — five consecutive years of Super Bowl presence generating more than 27 billion cumulative impressions, according to prnewswire.com — that reduces the creative burden on any individual year's execution. 'Top Dog' did not need to introduce Avocados from Mexico to American audiences; it needed to maintain salience and reinforce the Super Bowl guacamole association at the moment of highest relevance. The role-reversal concept accomplishes that without requiring a call to action, which is appropriate for a produce marketing organisation whose distribution is universal rather than selective.
The spot's use of Kristin Chenoweth provided earned media surface area beyond the paid broadcast placement, as celebrity-led Super Bowl advertising consistently generates additional coverage in entertainment press. According to Ad Age, 'Top Dog' was identified as the brand's Super Bowl LIII entry and represented Energy BBDO's first Super Bowl execution for Avocados from Mexico following the agency's account win, giving the work additional trade-press visibility. The Clapboard Score of 61 out of 100 reflects a campaign that executes its brief competently and maintains brand consistency, while stopping short of the creative breakthrough that would have distinguished it from the broader Super Bowl Commercials 2019 field.
'Top Dog' is a 30-second Super Bowl LIII commercial by Energy BBDO, aired February 3, 2019. The spot features Kristin Chenoweth commentating a fictional dog show where humans compete in canine behaviours for an avocado trophy, part of the brand's 'Always Worth It' platform. A 60-second online version also ran.
Energy BBDO created the 'Top Dog' campaign. The agency had won the Avocados from Mexico account the year prior, making 'Top Dog' their first Super Bowl execution for the brand, according to Ad Age. Chief Creative Officer Andrés Ordoñez led the creative team alongside Executive Creative Directors Josh Gross and Pedro Pérez.
Kristin Chenoweth stars in 'Top Dog' as the commentator of the fictional 53rd Annual Human Canine Show. Her role frames the absurdist premise in which humans perform sit, shake, and stay commands for canine judges, competing for a guacamole-and-avocado prize, as documented by Ad Age and adsoftheworld.com.
Avocados from Mexico appeared in the Super Bowl for five consecutive years through 2019, according to prnewswire.com. That sustained presence generated more than 27 billion cumulative impressions by the time 'Top Dog' aired, establishing the brand as one of the most consistent Food and Drink advertisers in Big Game history.
The concept reversed the traditional dog show format. Humans compete in canine obedience behaviours — sitting, shaking, staying — judged by dogs, with an avocado trophy as the prize. Directed by the duo Adam and Dave through production company Arts and Sciences, the concept positioned Mexican avocados as the ultimate aspirational reward.
'Top Dog' holds a Clapboard Score of 61 out of 100 on Clapboard.com. The score reflects competent execution of an established brand formula and consistent use of the 'Always Worth It' platform, while indicating the campaign did not achieve the level of creative distinction that separates standout Super Bowl Commercials 2019 from the broader field.
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