The Latest from Red Square
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Thursday morning quarterback.
I like to properly digest Super Bowl ads. And here’s my review of this year’s batch: they were largely forgettable. Overall, most spots lacked strategic thought (advertainment arguments aside).
There were two that stood out, for me. Google’s “Parisian Love” and Snickers’ “Betty White.” Both felt on brand and had a clear strategy. And I believe creative execution of a solid strategy leads to better ad recall.
Let’s do a little experiment: four days later, what ads do you recall or like and why? Tell us.
Josh — 2:29 pm on February 11, 2010
Love the Dorito’s slapping kid. And the Dove commercial has a smart, poignant strategy for their 30-something target audience.
Frank Ellsworth — 2:43 pm on February 11, 2010
I remember the Letterman-Leno “entertainment” spot. Which wasn’t really an ad for anything in particular. Also the Tim Tebow commercial, mostly because of the hype surrounding it. And the one where the guy was eating chips in a coffin. I hope Doritos paid for that ad cause that’s what I remember.
Philip Rosado — 2:49 pm on February 11, 2010
The Doritos “slap” kid. and the Bud Light house. but agreed these are forgettable. I prob wont remember in a few weeks.
Randy Hines — 2:52 pm on February 11, 2010
Hi Rich,
I agree with you that the ads were below average. I would give them a D. My ad students were not impressed either. My best two were the Google spot and the Doritos with the dog collar. Google may have been overlooked on game day, since it needed concentration. There was neither a sight gag or a loud spokesperson yelling at viewers. But it ranked as the best with my female students. The amateur-made dog collar commercial was clever with an anticipated, but deserving ending.
I’m glad Budweiser went with at least one Clydesdale commercial, reversing its earlier stance. It wasn’t their best effort, but it was sweet.
Tom Stahl — 3:54 pm on February 11, 2010
Not very excited about the Super Bowl commercials this year. But I seem to always like the Budweiser commercials. But nothing really jumped out this year like previous years. And I know what the problem is. The advertisers should have used Red Square. I’ve seen the Van Kampen commercials which draw the viewer in with creative copy along with camera shots and editing. If you spend the money to reach the audience and then don’t tell a compelling story then you’ve wasted your money. A lot of money was wasted on the Super Bowl.
Rich Sullivan — 4:04 pm on February 11, 2010
Hey Randy,
I’ve got mixed feelings on the whole consumer-generated trend. It’s waning, but in the era of YouTube pseudo-celebrity, consumers’ expectations of production quality hit the door. On the whole, there’s a lot rudderless humor with a brand slapped on at the end. I guess I’m a purist.
How do your students view the consumer-generated stuff?
Eyslyn Hunte — 4:19 pm on February 11, 2010
I liked the Doritos commercial with T-Pain. All the synthesized singing was silly, but it was definitely entertaining. Overall though the commercials were over hyped and I was disappointed.
Deborah — 12:10 am on February 12, 2010
The Kia joyride commercial caught then carried my attention through to the end. It was fun and whimsical and I want to see it again.
Letterman’s bit made me laugh out loud and glad I hadn’t headed to the kitchen for another beverage.
Vaughan — 11:01 am on February 12, 2010
Doritos kid and shock collar dog were good. ALL the Bud Light commercials sucked. The Betty White/Abe Vigoda Snickers ad was by far the best. Letterman and Leno ad was neither good nor bad. It was memorable because it sparked the conversation of “I thought they hated each other,” but that’s about it.