+ I've posted a detailed review of all the Super Bowl ads over at Adland.tv. But I wanted to post a couple thoughts here on a few things that I started to touch on there.
I did an experiment this year which was to avoid as much of the hype pre-game as I could about the ads. For the past 8 years or so, I've been doing the Super Bowl Ad Spoiler for Adland.tv, and I wanted to see if not knowing what was coming would make the ads more special, more inspiring. Sadly, that didn't seem to be the case. And this year, it seemed like even more ads and teasers were pushed out to try to build PR buzz ahead of the airing.
For me, personally, here is a look at the ads that stood out or flopped, and why.
The Good:
Coca Cola - Border Guards
This had a great tie to the Open Happiness tag. Simple. No words needed. Yet, it felt epic. Sure, there is another ad that this is either a brain-sync of or a rip-off, but even still, in a sea of crap, it stood out with its humanity among the frat boy crap from other brands.
Silverado - Tommy
I really liked this spot. Although I don't think many seemed to remember it. It had a nice epic tale that demonstrated the reliability of the truck. It was fun and funny without needing to put naked women in it, denigrate anyone, harm anyone...and it was shot well too.
Chrysler - Detroit
Eminem's best spot of the night, and most relevant as well. Chrysler used a celebrity that is the darling of Detroit and it worked. There was nothing fake of how they portrayed the city that has been through the wringer. It was gritty, but it was uplifting. It was real. And, it worked. Especially in comparison to the BMW x3 "Made in America" spot.
The Bad:
Chevy Cruize Eco - Misunderstanding
This has to be the worst ageist ad I've seen in a long time. It's horrible. Way to insult an entire demographic. I mean, I guess they figure people who are old or have trouble hearing are not going to be driving their cars, but I was very disgusted that this ad made it to air. How is it funny to make fun of people whose bodies are not functioning at full capacity? I don't get it. Massive fail here. There were so many other options of ways to show someone not "hearing" what was said and in a funny way, without going down this path.
Go Daddy - New Girl/Joan Rivers
More crap from a brand you can count on for shitty Super Bowl ads. Yup. This was just horrifying...I didn't need to see it. I think that e-Trade and GoDaddy should both have their ad budgets cut for repeatedly forcing awful crap year after year on the public.
GroupOn - Tibet
This was a total fail. The fact that the company was trying to actually tie to charitable causes by making fun of them did not come through at all in this spot. Some might say that it was part of the PR plan from CP+B, and some might say it was just a piece of crap, done poorly. Why? Because obviously what they were trying to communicate wasn't communicated. Just terrible. The funniest thing was that as I was tweeting about the spots and made a comment about this bad boy, someone tweeted to me that they thought I missed the point. Um...no I didn't miss it...they didn't put it in. Harsh way to get in on the game GroupOn, but hopefully you've learned your lesson.
Now, these are just my opinions. But, what I find even more interesting is that depending on which poll you look at for post-game response for favorite ads from the masses, you get a different winner. That should say something to us. There's a hidden nugget of truth and information there that should be leveraged in some way as we move forward.
I say, enough of the stereotypical and expected with animals, celebrities (both A and B-list folks), guys getting hurt, guys being stupid. Don't we think it's time to get past this crap and move on to using some new tactics? I do.
Caffeinated posts from a Creative Director/Copywriter/Strategist.
1 comment :
I enjoed Tommy ad too. Can't say it's fantastic, but it's quite nice and entertaining enough.
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