Not-so Super Bowl ads


I can just about feign interest in the football matches of my own country, let alone America's version of the sport. However, I'm known to succumb to a little Super Bowl spirit by way of eating fried stuff with cheese on the Sunday, then after a good 8 hours sleep I YouTube the half time performance and the ads. No one can say I don't care about the Super Bowl.


Now, you can probably tell from this post's title what I thought of the ads that were shown during the match. They weren't awful really... just thought they were pretty average. A 30 second ad shown at the Super Bowl will cost the brand a cool $4million; so forgive me for thinking they would knock my socks off, but these ads could have been shown during the break of Corrie and I wouldn't have known the difference.

I won't go through them all, there are plenty of other writers who have got there before me making higher standard jokes and put downs, but I will go through some I like and dislike if you're interested...

Like
Doritos - Hungry Goat:


What's funnier than a plastic hoof smashing a photo? Made me want Doritos.

Dislike
Go Daddy - Perfect Match


Literally just barfed on my keyboard. I use Go Daddy on a regular basis for work... this has nothing to do with hosting. But yes, for attention it's good and yes, for the Super Bowl it's good, but a lot of these kind of ads I feel just have sold out to the whole sex/shock/cringe sells. Meh..

Like
 Ram Trucks - God made a Farmer


Oooh made me feel all proud to be a farmer. 
I like the reading and the cinematography, the pace and the characters. It was wholesome and American. Classic, like the truck, and it seems like it would have felt totally right to watch during the match.

Dislike
Wonderful Pistachios - Cracking Style


I'm all for a dancing pistachio, but Gangnam Style has been done to death. I was expecting to see something more fresh, more 2013. Seems this was done more for entertainment value than really selling their product; the brand name was overshadowed. Looks quite cheap and low budget, and I thought a company would shell out more for such a huge event and costly spot.

Like
Samsung - Next Big Thing


A great comedy duo, fast paced, witty, keeps your attention, mentions Samsung a million times, shows off the phone and a couple of apps, and having the quick fire ideas in the boardroom kind of felt like you'd experienced them already. 

Dislike
Mercedes Benz CLA - Car Wash


'Kate Upton washes a car!' ....what a tactic to make you watch the ad all the way through! Never seen that before! So she doesn't wash the car. And when the men are washing the car, I doubt anyone is looking at the car, they are straining to see boobs on a window. At the end it says 'to see more visit the Facebook page'. 'WOOOO I'm gonna see Kate Upton all soapy!' Wrong again. It's to see more of the car. So you have just built us up and let us down. HOWEVER, I do like the social media continuation. It gets people liking the page, even though they wouldn't normally, and does draw some attention to their site.

I noticed many of the ads, even the bad ones, had some kind of social media follow up or 'to be continued'. In 2013 this addition seems even more important than the ad itself, probably because online interaction proves to be a more successful way of getting customers; if you get their involvement, you have their attention. A simple hashtag to get involved in with on Twitter is a great and easy way to generate some buzz around your campaign. The 'Speed Stick' ad, which I disliked, had a "What's Your #handleit Moment". I thought was a good idea, but with 100's of hashtag topics a day, you really need something extra to stand out, to put yourself above the rest; and something that will last. That's the problem with hashtags and Facebook likes, they have no longevity or sustenance.

So I guess my point is: put more effort into the ad. Whether it is costing you $4million or a tenner, why wouldn't you want to have the coolest, funniest, creative, innovative ad out there? Why would you want to fade into the background with all the other mediocre sex jokes and dancing peanuts?  Even if your brand is the best selling of it's kind and you don't really need to advertise it, (take note, Coke), a lazy ad doesn't do you justice when you have so many popular brands that do it well. Show some pride in your brand, show that you know your audience, and make an impression long lasting enough to make them remember you forever.

Comments

  1. HellsM10 February 2013 at 18:59

    I read somewhere that the Oreo ad that ran during the blackout was potentially the most impactful. How much did they spend? $0 as it ran via Twitter. I like this a lot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. lauramcripps10 February 2013 at 19:12

      Yeah 'You can still dunk in the dark' - thought that was great too!

      Delete

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