It’s Super Bowl Time & That Means Commercials!

Can you really have a marketing blog without having an analysis of Super Bowl commercials?  No, of course not!  Overall, I think the ads were all funny enough. Some had elements that made them work (Jim Nantz, T-Pain, an astronaut chicken, Awesomer) but only one had it all, and that is the first on my list:

Google ad: Parisian Love. I am going to just say it – one of the best ads of the game. Did anyone NOT love this ad? Search on. (by the way, this was Google's first US TV spot)

Letterman: While not the funniest spot, it is already getting a lot of buzz and was pretty comedic. You have to appreciate the sentiment with all three "stars'" issues over the years. The best part was this wasn't a paid spot, rather a network plug.

Audi: Green Police –funny... but are they making fun of the exact market they are targeting? I thought the ad was pretty creative, which it needed to be since it was one of the "anticipated" ads this Super Bowl.

Dodge Charger: Give it up for the car spot! Men will relate, women will relate. The spot is creatively written because even as a woman, I could laugh at the truth to the copy – plus those actors were spot on. So defeated. 

Bridgestone: Whale of a Tale – if you like the movie "The Hangover" you will probably like this spot.

Doritos: The only one I like was the "House Rules" spot with the little kid smacking around the jerk who checked out mommy. The others tried a bit too hard to be funny. But it was speaking to a younger audience and they will like it.

Focus on the Family/Tim Tebow controversial ad: only thing to say is GREAT PR STRATEGY.

FloTV: Jim Nantz is great. His appearance on How I Met Your Mother last week was a prelude to his appearances in these spots. His sarcasm and perception of the emasculated man are hilarious. Oh, and the product looks cool too.

Budweiser: I didn't get the Bud Light house but got lots of comments from men who did. And "Voice Box" with T-Pain was pretty funny. I did like the horse and cow relationship. I had lunch with an astute business man in his 70s today and he related best to this ad. There will be an eternal market for the Budweiser Clydesdales who, as the Budweiser website says, embody the brand heritage.

Denny's: funny enough. The best part was when the astronaut chicken screamed but couldn't be heard.

E-trade: my opinion may be controversial but don't you think the funny babies have been done now? Do you remember what they are trying to sell or do you just kind of laugh and move on?

HomeAway: cool idea but the Griswold's didn't bring the funny

Dove MenCare: It was a delightful jingle with the right sense of humor. Also, "be comfortable in your own skin" is good copywriting.  Will it make men buy the product, though?

Snickers: "When you're hungry you're not yourself" is not as good as "Snickers Really Satisfies." People will like this because tackling old people, especially Betty White, brings the LOLs. I think this has been done. HOWEVER, this spot got a lot of votes in my focus group. (see below)

Emerald Nuts and PopSecret: Awesome + Awesome = Awesomer = great tag. Now, the creative group needs to make a spot that supports it. They missed an opportunity to really develop the line. Maybe there can be a series and the team can revisit it.

GoDaddy: It wasn't provocative enough to be funny. It was hot girls in tank tops and no one wanted to go check the "Too Hot for TV" spots. Did any of you feel compelled to go online and see more (or less)?

Movie Trailer: The best was Russell Crowe's Robin Hood – that is going to be awesome!

A final note: did you notice that Pepsi was not among the spots? That is because they launched the refresh campaign – reinvesting what would have been spent on Super Bowl ads into an online campaign asking how to dole out grant money. It will be interesting to see how they fared – and one to research in many marketing classes, I think.

The ranked favorites from my social media focus groups:

Snickers

Brett Fauvre

Dodge Charger

Bud Light (T-Pain, House of BL, Stranded on an island)

Dove 4 Men

Intel

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