And what a super bowl-full it was.
It had everything. Bad playing, bad ads, enormous wastage of money on celebrity cretins, Joe Namath's coat...
And then to top it off, the dumbest line of copy in Super Bowl history: "There's nothing more American than America."
The extent of this mess could mark the end of the $4 million dollar spot. Only kidding. Dumb advertisers will always need stuff to put on YouTube
Some random thoughts on the Super Bowl ads:
Doritos "Finger Cleaner": One of the funniest spots ever made for the Super Bowl didn't run. Someone must have gotten cold feet. Here it is:
Budweiser: Puppy dogs? Give me a fucking break. As usual, this will be the USA Today poll winner.
Audi "Doberhuahua": More goddam dogs. This is another one that should score big with the public. People will remember everything but the advertiser.
SodaStream: Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn.
Noah: Trailer looked like SNL spoof.
T-Mobile "Tebow": Buried the lead under mountains of "creativity." Their all-type spot at the end way more effective.
Cheerios: Perfect performance by that little girl, and very sweet.
Jaguar: There's always a big, dumb helicopter spot. This was it.
GoDaddy "Body Builders": Yuk. Bring back the sluts (but great music by Joel & Co.)
Hyundai "Dad's 6th Sense": Might actually move some metal.
Hyundai Elantra: WTF was this thing about?
Chobani: More stupid animals tricks.
Wonderful Pistachios: Not wonderful. Colbert act getting tired.
Heinz "Hum": Dum
Bud Light "Screw On Cap": See, America can still innovate. Which reminds me...
Chrysler: What can I say. Bob Dylan speaks the dumbest copy line ever written and wears make-up. We all become what we make fun of.
Axe: Peace? Give me a fucking... wait, did I say that already?.This whole miserable thing makes you wonder if the banner ad crowd are now allowed to play with storyboards.
Obviously dog persons are going to love the Budweiser puppy-horse spot. But you can replace Budweiser in that ad with whatever brand or product you can imagine and the spot would still work as well. There's nothing that says 'Budweiser' or even 'beer' in the spot. People are going to remember the puppy, but not what product the spot was supposed to advertise.
ReplyDeleteThe spot did achieve what it set out to do--general awareness. It's memorable, tugs on viewers heart strings and has us all talking today. It maintains brand continuity through the use of the well-known and iconic Budweiser Clydesdale horses. It features the trainer from last year's advertising and continues the overall look and feel that Budweiser has established over the past few years. Could it be labeled with any other brand or product? Probably not--too iconic.
ReplyDeleteRE: The Dylan Chrysler spot, I have to quote my sister:
ReplyDelete"Someone should tell Bob Dylan that Chrysler's majority shareholder is Italian carmaker Fiat."
:-)
Brand continuity? General awareness? Yup, I saw this debut on whatever-whateverBC t.v. earlier in the week. But brand continuity and general awareness don't always influence what we buy. What did I actually buy at the grocery this store this weekend? Angry Orchard, because I prefer cider to beer. And I've never seen an Angry Orchard ad, television or digital. (And don't disappoint, AO, by retargeting me because of this post.
ReplyDeleteTrue. But, the spot is meant to influence consumers as much to maintain presence in the marketplace. No different than what coke did with their "America the Beautiful" spot. Anheuser-Bush know they have a strong
ReplyDeletebrand presence among consumers so they don't have to always tout taste, quality, etc. Also, take a look at the end card hastag "bestbuds". How
much does that speak to the sentiment of the spot as well as a simple, direct message (influence) for the product itself? Nice touch there.
Everything reeked of creative by committee. Execution before idea. If the game had been competitive, it wouldn't have annoyed as much.
ReplyDeleteI thought Radio Shack was pretty good if they really intend to redesign all their stores. But what the hell was Maserati thinking?
ReplyDeleteHa. The banner ad crowd being allowed to play with storyboards. So true. Doing TV takes an apprenticeship. Not a short one either. And preferably under some people who actually know what they're doing. But congratulations Adland, you've fired most of the the people who knew how to do TV. Y'know, the dinosaurs over 45 who also understood brands, and not least of all, how to rise to the moment of your work being being seen by 100 million people at once. This year was truly a new low for Superbowl advertising. The "best" were the tallest among midgets. And that's an insult to midgets. What happened to great - truly great? There was a line penned a couple of years ago: "The plumbers have taken over for the poets". It's all just plumbing now. Creatives of the world, it's not too late. Film is an amazingly powerful medium. Find some human truths, mine some real insights about your brand, and make a spot for your brand that no other brand could possibly make. Make a statement no other brand could possibly make. Make it memorable, make it funny, make it beautiful, or make it moving. But please God, make just one spot that will make just one viewer say, "That's wonderful."
ReplyDeleteHa ha ... loved the "nothing more american than america' line ... a cracker ... fell off my chair laughing ... gold medal to the writer ...
ReplyDeleteMy pick was Radio Shack .. I love a good insight and it was dripping with a good one
I agree Rob. That was my pick. A simple insight with a simple but entertaining execution ... obviously what the business needs is for people to take another look at them ... I am calling it as probably the ad that will be the most effective
ReplyDeleteThe good old people hew brought us Ronald Reagan.
ReplyDeleteCigaretts with Cowboys and with it unfettered Capitalism.
As long as the money is there.
All very embarrasing.
You have to believe in what you do and take it serious.
Sounds like a religion.
Very scary!