Controversial Super Bowl ad from 84 Lumber that showed a Mexican border wall was so successful it BROKE their website after 6 MILLION views in the first hour

  • The ad showed a mother and daughter immigrating to America in search of jobs
  • 84 Lumberreceived more than 300,000 web requests in a minute after airing
  • For the first 10 minutes only about half of server requests could be handled
  • In the end, the website received more than 6million requests in the first hour 

By Abigail Miller For Dailymail.com

Published: 21:12 EST, 6 February 2017 | Updated: 23:24 EST, 6 February 2017

The 84 Lumber ad aired during the Super Bowl ended up being even more of a success than its creators intended.

The first half of the two-part ad aired in a 90-second slot during Sunday night's game and directed viewers online for the conclusion. 

Steve Radick, Brunnerwork's vice president and director of public relations and content integration, told CBS News that the website received more than 300,000 web requests in the first minute after the commercial aired. 

Scroll down for video 

The first half of the two-part ad aired in a 90-second slot during Sunday night's game and directed viewers online for the conclusion

The first half of the two-part ad aired in a 90-second slot during Sunday night's game and directed viewers online for the conclusion

CEO and chairman Michael Brunner told CBS: 'Simply put, that was a spot that they didn't think they would be willing to run during the Super Bowl'
Steve Radick, Brunnerwork's vice president and director of public relations and content integration, told CBS News that the website received more than 300,000 web requests in the first minute after the commercial aired

Michael Brunner, CEO (left), and Steve Radick (right), VP, were the 'brains behind the operation'. Brunner told CBS  'Simply put, that was a spot that they didn't think they would be willing to run during the Super Bowl'

The traffic was more than the site expected, and more than it could handle. For the first 10 minutes only about half of server requests could be handled. Eventually the issue was resolved. 

Brunnerworks advertisers made the commercial this way after Fox asked them to change their commercial, saying that it made them uncomfortable. 

CEO and chairman Michael Brunner told CBS: 'Simply put, that was a spot that they didn't think they would be willing to run during the Super Bowl'. 

The shortened commercial shows a Spanish-speaking mother and daughter traveling in the back of a pickup truck, jumping on a freight train and walking across the desert

In the full length video, the mother and daughter eventually reach a wall at the US-Mexico border, blocking them from entering to look for work

In the full length video, the mother and daughter eventually reach a wall at the US-Mexico border, blocking them from entering to look for work

The shortened commercial shows a Spanish-speaking mother and daughter traveling in the back of a pickup truck, jumping on a freight train and walking across the desert. 

In the full length video, the mother and daughter eventually reach a wall at the US-Mexico border, blocking them from entering to look for work.  

In the end, the website received more than 6million requests in the first hour after the spot aired just before halftime. 

Brunner said that though they had to change the ad, it worked out for the best, saying: 'It was planned to be a 90-second spot all along, clearly we had to make some changes, and the end result; we were very pleased.' 

Brunner said the ad had three goals: to generate awareness, to position 84 Lumber as an 'employer of choice', and to get new recruits. He said he did not mean to cause controversy

The ad was among Super Bowl ads that tackled Trump policies on immigration and other issues that have split the U.S. population. Trump has vowed to construct a wall along the US-Mexico frontier to keep out illegal immigrants

The ad was among Super Bowl ads that tackled Trump policies on immigration and other issues that have split the U.S. population. Trump has vowed to construct a wall along the US-Mexico frontier to keep out illegal immigrants

Brunner said the ad had three goals: to generate awareness, to position 84 Lumber as an 'employer of choice', and to get new recruits. He said he did not mean to cause controversy. 

'The controversy's already out there. We were simply using that as a metaphor to talk about 84 Lumber and what they're looking for in terms of the people they're looking to hire.' 

While some on social media praised the company for taking a stand on immigration, others took to Twitter to say that they would boycott the supplier. 

The ad was among Super Bowl ads that tackled Trump policies on immigration and other issues that have split the U.S. population. 

While some on social media praised the company for taking a stand on immigration, others took to Twitter to say that they would boycott the supplier

While some on social media praised the company for taking a stand on immigration, others took to Twitter to say that they would boycott the supplier

Trump has vowed to construct a wall along the US-Mexico frontier to keep out illegal immigrants. 

In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, 84 Lumber's president and owner, Maggie Hardy Magerko, said: 'Even President Trump has said there should be a "big beautiful door in the wall so that people can come into this country legally".

'It's not about the wall. It's about the door in the wall. If people are willing to work hard and make this country better, that door should be open to them.' 

Comments (106)

Share what you think

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now