“I was a commercial director for quite a long time and if I had said “I have a spot playing in the Super Bowl”, it was kind of like the “king-daddy” to show your spots”, Snyder said in a promotional video published on Doritos’ competition website. But when you ad a puppy to the mix there is no way you can’t reach for the Kleenex.
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The online survey of more than 7,000 US Millennials, sponsored by Imgur, found that just 50 percent planned to watch the Super Bowl (or were thinking about it), while 49.6 percent said they were not planning to or probably would not watch. Political campaigns are responding (and, perhaps, contributing) to that angst with alarming TV montages, but companies “are going 180 degrees in the other direction, because they’re hoping viewers are looking for an escape”.
The actual game can be just as entertaining as the commercial breaks or the roughly 12-minute halftime show. The ad started with a scene of a swamp at nighttime, and the three frogs would rhythmically croak their names until they got faster and faster, forming the Budweiser name. The company’s comprehensive suite of tools map to ad objectives, including the creative impact of persuasion, breakthrough, emotional connection, and indicators of shareability.
Some ads even went apocalyptic: Phone-accessory maker Mophie’s ad centered on a final reckoning of tsunamis and looting, all because God’s phone battery died. Blawie says: “Shot by Kinka Usher for BBDO, this ad debuted in the Super Bowl in 1997, and officially kicked off PepsiCo’s Special Edition/Episode 1/Lucasfilm alliance”.
The ads, or ad-teasers, released online in the lead-up to the main event also attract hundreds of thousands of eyeballs. Axe, the men’s grooming brand, swaps out its typical call to machismo for an ode to self-esteem, asking, “Who needs a six-pack when you got the nose?” “There was cyber bullying, domestic abuse”. We’re talking about the advertisers.
“We set up the collection methodology for over 50 different ads, and we actually have somebody babysitting the server for when we turn it on to make sure it doesn’t blow up”, said James Rubec of Cision, which tracks social media performance for brands. A 30-second ad is quite ephemeral, so social media is becoming a bigger part of the picture in order to build up excitement for the campaign, and to keep people interested in the brand after the ad has aired. And Heinz’ ad features adorable wiener dogs running in a field toward people dressed as Heinz ketchup bottles to Harry Nilsson’s “Without You”.
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But at the very least, a cheerier touch will help the companies separate themselves from the dark and dreary landscapes of political ads. ADI says this is the future of TV ad sales. The ad stars model Charlotte McKinney, who appears to be in her birthday suit walking through a market as she takes a bite of a cheeseburger. “You can’t stop ISIS with a beer”.
