Last night’s telecast of The Academy Awards was a huge hit, with millions of viewers tuning in. Spotlight got the big win as Best Picture, Leonardo DiCaprio finally won Best Actor for his performance in The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road scored six of the golden statuettes. But they weren’t the only big winners from Sunday’s show, as several brands got big boosts from the event, too.
In 2014, Ellen DeGeneres earned a huge social media victory when her star-filled selfie reached 255,00 tweets per minute, setting a new record. However, Leonardo DiCaprio winning a Best Actor award for The Revenant made short work of it, as his acceptance speech managed to draw a whopping 444,000 tweets per minute.
#Oscars: @Leodicaprio almost broke the internet when he bagged the award for best actor – his first ever Oscar pic.twitter.com/9EeRkJfHyL
— Brandwatch React (@BW_React) February 29, 2016
Thousands of fans tweeted out support for DiCaprio, as well as various memes and GIFs paying tribute to the actor. His glass-raising gesture from The Great Gatsby was an oft-seen highlight.
Android
Not everything surrounding the Oscars was about the show itself. Android debuted a powerful (yet adorable) new advertisement that took the issue of bullying head-on. Featuring characters based on a rock, paper and scissors (like in the old childhood game), the ad has the three befriending one another as others attempt to push them around. It’s set to the tune of John Parr’s ’80s classic “Man In Motion (St. Elmo’s Fire).”
The ad saw a ton of responses on Twitter, with many viewers applauding its approach and its message: “Be together. Not the same.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYxpX3N20qU
The Girl Scouts
The Girl Scouts took center stage at one point, as Chris Rock brought out a bunch of girls to sell cookies to the guests in attendance. It was a sweet moment, and it made for even better ones on social media when stars Christian Bale and Matt Damon shared a box.
https://twitter.com/megbarrett17/status/704302563114487809
The show ended on a positive note, raising over $65,000 in purchases and creating a huge push for the Girl Scouts.
This sums up the sweetest moments from the #Oscars. Everyone loves #GirlScoutCookies pic.twitter.com/sSfnN7pL5h
— Girl Scouts (@girlscouts) February 29, 2016
Honda Civic
Even though it wasn’t an official sponsor of the show, Honda got some considerable love from comedian Louis C.K., who gave the Civic a little nod during his presentation of the Best Documentary Short Subject.
“This is the one Academy Award that has the opportunity to change a life,” he notes. “I’m happy for all of you, but you came here winners and you’re leaving millionaires.
“These people – this is documentary short film. It’s not even documentary feature,” he continued. “You cannot make a dime on this. These people will never be rich for as long as they live. So, this Oscar means something. All they do is tell stories that are important.”
He then joked that, “This Oscar is going home in a Honda Civic,” to much delight of the audience.
Honda responded in kind with the tweet below.
Here's to everyone driving home with winning hardware tonight. #HondaCivic #CarOfTheYear pic.twitter.com/2PkX7HGOJX
— Honda (@Honda) February 29, 2016
Warner Bros.
Even though there were no new reveals shown during the telecast, Warner Bros. hyped the forthcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice film (in theaters on March 25) on Jimmy Kimmel Live following the Academy Awards.
Along with an appearance by Batman himself, Ben Affleck smuggled his Academy Award-nominated buddy Matt Damon, Jimmy’s “sworn nemesis,” in his coat. The show also featured a humorous clip based around the film. The short features Affleck, Henry Cavill and Jesse Eisenberg having a discussion while Kimmel attempts to intervene, realizing that he’s in the presence of Batman and Superman. Meanwhile, everyone else pays no mind. The clip ends with Kimmel being knocked straight into Mars … where Damon’s character from The Martian is waiting.