Report Card: Local Experts Grade Super Bowl Ads
Monday, February 06, 2012
Who were the winners and losers of this year’s Super Bowl ad battle?
GoLocalProv asked some of the most well-respected advertising and public relations companies in the state to break down the best and worst commercials of the year.
The team from Mediapeel offered up three winners and three losers for the night; the group from NAIL gave us witty remarks on virtually every commercials of the night; and public relations guru Andy Cutler broke down his five key thoughts of the night.
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First things first: In the spirit of full disclosure, please know that this agency produced the :30 Alex and Ani spot that ran in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Florida markets near the beginning of the third quarter. Of course we’re proud of it and the hard work that went into its production, from conception through final cut. But it is for impartial critics to weigh in on its merits.
We have three favorites:
1. The Jerry Seinfeld Acura NSX spot in which Jerry pulls out all the stops attempting to get the guy who will receive the first model to trade it away. Big time production values, uncharacteristically over-played shtick from the uber-comic, and a last-second cameo deal-steal by Jay Leno. In such a weak field, this witless stuff wins going away.
2. The Pepsi spot with Elton John as an Arthurian king attempting to hoard the soda and keep the people dry. But the peasants are revolting (not to mention a tad obnoxious), and they end up overthrowing the despot and securing sugar highs and tooth decay for the common man. Good populist sentiment in the midst of a day-long celebration of corporatism.
3. The Fiat ad in which a perfect Central Casting nerd is seduced by an Italian starlet who, just as he’s about to lick cappuccino foam from her cleavage, is revealed to be a new Fiat. We’re sure he ended up, ahem, inside the, ahem, car, where he masterfully manipulated his, ahem, stick shift, drove it, ahem, well, you get the point ... Sure, you don’t have to be Fellini to figure this one out, but Italian cars are indeed sexy.
Rather than cite the three least favorite ads, we’ll introduce them as a group – you know, the method the once-dynastic Patriots made famous in some long-forgotten Super Bowl.
We could point to the sexism and leering homoeroticism of the godaddy.com ad in which girl-on-girl action results in a woman’s body being turned into a billboard. We might mourn the fates of those Polar bears who need a Coca Cola to stir them out of their frozen couch potato funks. Or we could dwell on the “apocalypse-proof” Chevy Silverado tableau in which, amidst a big-budget rendering of the coming meta-disaster, post-December 21 dudes evince a “che sera, sera" attitude in the face of human extinction and find solace in their "longest lasting" pick-up trucks and Twinkies. An ad which Ford is suing general Motors over by the way.
Then there were kids peeing in pools, refusing to share their food, and speed -dating in the glass-walled hospital rooms where newborns are put on display.
But why bother with any of this when we can be out and about making money on e-trade and spending it on cars, soda and domain names?
NAIL: Chrysler won the Super Bowl
No contest. Everything else felt trite and trivial compared to their beautiful, chills-inducing two minutes of inspiration. At the end of that spot, every one watching with us starting clapping.
Their follow up to last year’s intense spot with Eminem took a big, bold idea (“Imported from Detroit”) to another level. Brilliant writing, powerful imagery and an iconic spokesperson—they went far beyond selling cars and instead challenged an entire nation to get back on its feet. Clint Eastwood looking all of us right in the eyes and saying “The world is going to hear the roar of our engines.” is as inspiring as anything we’ve seen in a long, long time.
Could a commercial pull us out of our economic doldrums? Probably not. But 100 million people feeling a surge of pride and confidence all at once certainly couldn’t hurt. And we suspect it will sell a lot of cars as.
It’s just a reminder to every client that pays to put content in front of consumers: you have an opportunity to turn their attention into something powerful if your are brave enough to try.
We reviewed all the other spots. But they really felt like they were in the JV game. We’re sure one of them with a cute animal or risqué joke will win the USA Today poll. But Chrysler and their agency Weiden/Kennedy won the varsity game as far as we’re concerned.
Bud - Budweiser has a blue bottle. Not sure why we should care.
Audi - Headlights killing vampires. Funny, but how many Twilight teens are buying Audis? Oh, and are you going to buy a $60,000 car because of the headlights?
Pepsi- “Court”- Lots of money. Very little taste. Just not funny. But happy to see them keeping Flavor Flav off food stamps. And good to see Elton John back in heels again.
Hyundai - Cheetah attacking guy. Made the children in the room laugh hysterically.
Bud - Multi-cultural office place. Dull and pointless.
M&M - Old formula still works. Naked M&M’s got the kids giggling.
Best Buy - Trying to equate tech innovators and geniuses with high-school drop-outs wearing blue shirts feels like a bit of a stretch. And earnest doesn’t always play well at loud Super Bowl parties.
Coke - Legs crossed polar bear. Cute but feels rehashed.
Chevy - End of the world epic production. Barry Manilow tune lets the audience know it’s OK to giggle. Well-produced. Manages to suggest that using their competitor’s product will get you killed. First “A” of the night.
Bridgestone - “If our product were something else, the something else would be really good” metaphor cliché. Really flat, though we did like the cameo from “Kevin Butler” who’s in the Play station campaign.
Go Daddy - These people should go to jail.
Lexus - Their mean car escaped from a box. But I don’t really care
Bud - Celebrating the end of Prohibition. Gorgeous. Beautifully shot. Has the feel of a Super Bowl spot. No real idea, but Boardwalk Empire-esque.
Chevy- Kid thinks he’s getting a Camaro. Small gag. Executed it as big as they could.
GE - Turbines make beer! Maybe they’re not boring. Oh wait, yes they are...
VW - The fat dog working out to get skinny enough to chase cars was a classic formulaic crowd-pleaser. Loved the self-aware gimmick of pulling back to have the spot being played in the Star Wars bar where a guy says it wasn’t as good as last year’s spot only to have Darth Vader choke him into changing his mind. Though not sure how many civilians will get that inside-advertising reference.
H&M - David Beckham getting the ladies hot and bothered.
Chevy - A compilation of viral videos that we suspect will start circulating independently soon enough. A smart way to make a cheap car seem fun for the younger set. Does what a good marketer should do: don’t say it, be it. Won’t show up on any of the polls, but a sign of good things to come.
Cars.com - Weird two-headed “confidence” spot. This is a spot that all creatives would have been proud to sell. Funny and well done.
Doritos - Broad, slapstick, over-acting. Even the music is cliché.
E-trade - The baby is shilling pretty hard, but we like the kid. Like the M&M spot, it’s an old formula but works. Nice semi-disturbing button to the spot with a toddler “speed dating” newborns.
Fiat - Our car is a sexy super model. No it’s not.
Pepsi - Client writing the dialogue alert! “Bet you’re wondering how they got all that Pepsi taste into a zero calorie cola?”
Camry - A tortured metaphor around “reinvented” that they executed really well. Actually pretty funny though somehow the new Camry doesn’t seem even close to as cool as any of the things it’s being compared to like the bimbo sofa or the poop-less baby.
Acura - Seinfeld and Leno. Funny and well done. Letting Seinfeld write your commercial is never a bad idea.
Bud - Budweiser through the ages. Spent a lot of money. Great piece of music. Will be forgotten.
Bridgestone - Quiet basketball analogy. Bye-bye $3 million...
Honda - Semi-charming remake of Ferris Bueller. Though Honda’s sad little CRV is a very long way from the sexy Ferrari in the movie.
Bud - Dog gets beer. Focus group drivel that lets them say their tagline 27 times.
Samsung - Wow, they made an iPhone with a pen. Isn’t that called a Palm Pilot? Then a pointless extravaganza follows.
Kia - Appreciate the over the top dream production. But again, the fire breathing wrestlers, Motley Crue, forty foot sub sandwiches et al. almost seemed to emphasize just how generic their little sedan is.
Career Builder - They’ve got to go somewhere fresh with their monkeys. Getting stale.
Cadillac - Makes cars almost as good as German cars.
Andy Cutler: 5 Big Thoughts
Good, or even great, Super Bowl ads are harder to come by these days than a Patriots win over the Giants. So here it goes...my five observations on this year's ads.
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I realize Anheuser Busch, Chevrolet (i.e., GM), Acura and Coca-Cola are four companies that have more money than GOD, so you would think their ads would new, fresh and trend-setting. This couldn't be farther from the truth. These companies consistently put out some of the least creative ads known to mankind (no matter what price they paid to their creative agencies). I am beginning to think it is less about their creative agencies and more about the people overseeing advertising at these companies. This year's ads were especially devoid of any sense of real creativity.
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VW's ad which built on the strong foundation set with their ad from last year (i.e., Star Wars theme). All the other companies should take notice of their ads if for nothing else at least they are different, quirky and have us remembering the long after the game is over; and isn't that the point of an ad in the first place. Although, I must admit I more partial to last year's Super Bowl ad than last.
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Doritos hit another home run with their commercials (entitled, Man's Best Friend).
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We'll see if Matthew Broderick, who made the iconic Ferris Bueller a household name will sell more Honda CRVs. His much anticipated return during this year's Super Bowl was watched closely by all, and at the end of the day, he seemed to be a welcomed return. Not a touchdown, but definitely gets a first down for his efforts.
- Maybe Madonna should sell product to the 30-40 year old set because all of my friends were on the edge of their seats for her half-time extravaganza and loved it. She made the half-time festivities worth watching again!
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