# Reddit’s five-second Super Bowl ad

> Reddit used a five-second regional Super Bowl spot to send viewers searching for its text.

- Owner: Reddit
- Kind: Campaign
- Sector: Media & publishing
- Seed date: 2021-02-07
- Peak proxy date: Week of Feb 7, 2021
- Date basis: Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak. Some dates are known only to the week, month or year.
- Spread Score: 48 (Notable, provisional), v1.3
- Mechanics: Transgression, Newsjacking, Underdog, Response chain, Platform jump

## Summary

Reddit bought regional airtime after the GameStop squeeze. Viewers paused, photographed and searched for its text; Reddit reposted it and press explained it. Fastly reported an immediate traffic rise. The CMO later reported more advertiser registrations.

## Timeline

- 2021-02-07 — Reddit / R/GA (TV) — Reddit aired its five-second creative through regional placements in nine major US markets.
- 2021-02-07 — u/CowboyDandyPunchTime (Reddit) — A viewer posted a photo of the ad to r/Superbowl at 23:05 UTC.
- 2021-02-07 — u/reddit_irl (Reddit) — Reddit thanked an r/wholesome poster and said it bought the placement three days before kickoff.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/mcp#api).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/reddit-super-bowl-5-second-ad

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Reddit’s five-second Super Bowl ad.” Case HIS-01710. Spread Score v1.3: 48/100. Updated 2026-10-26. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01710