Millions of Americans just learned what ASMR is from Michelob Ultra's Super Bowl commercial — but they aren't loving it

The brand enlisted actress Zoe Kravitz to promote beer through ASMR, but sentiment online was mixed after it aired.
ASMR is a popular type of YouTube video but it hasn't made much of a splash on TV.
According to data from Brandwatch, 54.21% of the tweets about the ad were negative.

Most big brands use the Super Bowl to show off big splashy ads that are first formatted for TV and then run them on social media afterwards.

Not Michelob Ultra. The Anheuser Busch-owned brand ran a 45-second ad that takes advantage of a sensation called autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) that has become a big trend on YouTube. ASMR videos use soft sounds like whispering or touching to trigger a tingling feeling in some people.

While ASMR is a big trend online, it's not mainstream, but Michelob Ultra hopes that it will become mainstream by bringing it to the Super Bowl.

Actress Zoe Kravitz stars in the ad that promotes Pure Gold beer from ad agency FCB Chicago. In the spot, Kravitz taps a beer bottle softly and whispers into a microphone. The 60-second ad was posted to YouTube on Jan. 28 and has racked up nearly 13 million views since.

After the ad ran, Twitter exploded with tweets about the ad, most of which were negative, according to social media analytic firm Brandwatch.

Since 6 p.m. Eastern time, Michelob Ultra was mentioned 4,200 times and more than 54% of the tweets were negative, according to the firm. At one point, 750 tweets a minute were flying around about the brand.

Indeed, it's hard for any brand to stand-out in the cluttered Super Bowl, and it looks like Michelob Ultra's soft-spoken approach didn't make the cut — at least not initially after airing.

Here are some reactions to the ad on Twitter:

And just like that ASMR goes from YouTube channels to beer commercials. Thanks, Michelob. #SuperBowl
— Andrew Good (@FieFitty) February 4, 2019

unpopular opinion (?): not a fan of the michelob ad. to me, it felt too intentional & obvious that they were trying to stay relevant. if anything, i would have loved to see them use a popular youtube asmrtist, or at the very least one of the celebs from the W mag asmr series 🤷🏻‍♀️
— 𝚖𝚒𝚔𝚊 (@mikathinks) February 4, 2019

Thanks Michelob for making me explain asmr to my parents 😐
— Lina⚡️Madrid (@LinaAMadrid) February 4, 2019

I knew someone was going to do an ASMR commercial just didn't think it'd be Michelob
— Ian Schafer (@ischafer) February 4, 2019

Nah, what made me the most uncomfortable was the Michelob commercial.... ASMR Gets under my skin, and not in a good way... I cant stand to listen to it
— lilbeth0303 (@lilbeth0303) February 4, 2019

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