The Superbowl Snooze: The Good and The Bad
My friend wondered where my commentary was for this year’s Superbowl ads so here goes... *I’m three weeks behind but whatever* In short, from what I saw, someone definitely hit the snooze button on my Superbowl ad party. Folks in the biz, I was not impressed. For most of this years’ ads, the general reaction was, ‘eh, I saw this last year I think’.
There were, however, a few that stood out – both good and bad. Let’s review some of the more memorable ones and those we hope never to see again...
THE GOOD.
Two thumbs up for this ad. Simple, powerful, effective; we get it. The ad starts us off with someone doing a Google search on ‘study abroad in Paris’ then takes us through a cute love story between some American guy and a Parisian girl - all through the use of Google’s powerful search engine.
This commercial feels vaguely reminiscent of the Chase card commercial depicting a relevant Chase card for every major point in your life from singledom and having fun to falling in love, getting married, having a family, retirement. It just makes you feel good. We get it. Using Google for relationship advice? Beautiful.It’s just one of the things that make this ad completely relevant from an audience perspective. How many people haven’t done this... The cute back story just pulls it all together. *Clap-clap-clap for Google and their first Superbowl ad*
2. FLOTV - Injury ReportPoor, poor Jason: forced to shop instead of watch the Superbowl.I know many guys that probably felt the pain of this scenario all too well.I thought this was cute and funny..in a dry, entertaining way. "Injury report: Jason’s girlfriend has removed his spine rendering him incapable of watching the Superbowl...Change outta that skirt Jason.” Classic. It’s not terribly hilarious but guys get it (and so do some of the ladies – you know who you are). The straight-forward dry humor coupled with the “I get it” factor is what makes it work.*chuckle, chuckle*
3. Doritos - Tie between Casket and Kids These Days (at the vending machine)
Some classicly 'decent' Doritos commercials - nothing that really blew my socks off, but these two made me chuckle fairly consistently so they make the list. One thing I will say for Doritos and Co - they understand the entertainment factor: keep it short, keep it simple, make us laugh (and, make us hungry for Doritos). For me it was a tie between The Casket and the Vending Machine – both clever and fun, both made me hungry. Particularly in the Casket version...all those Doritos..yumm. *Score*
Too bad the guy wasn’t so mouth-watering though..*ickk*
On that note...really, Doritos should play up the hot man factor just a little...after all, women viewers are more likely to watch the Superbowl commercials, they're more likely to do the shopping (and therefore, buy the Doritos for the next house party) and they currently make up almost half of the Superbowl viewing audience. That makes the hot-man factor equally as relevant as the hot-woman factor played in so many other Doritos commercials. Doritos et al: work on that eye candy would ya???
THE BAD.
People want to be entertained, not sit there feeling like an ass. This commercial had me debating the top three things I felt like doing most while watching that commercial: bathe in a tub of foam and plastic, pollute the Pacific- drop an oil tanker, fly to Alaska-club a baby seal. Probably not a good thing. *I can almost feel the e-tomatoes flying* This commercial takes the ‘Going Green’ concept and slaps you in the face with it in a way that is neither funny nor appreciated.
Audi so strongly identified with the Green Police in this ad that I had no desire to go out and get one. In fact, I was feeling rather anti-Audi after the ad. Who wants to associate with a brand that says you’ll be arrested for having your hot tub too hot (helloooo 'hot' tub...) or drinking from a foam or plastic cup (hellooooo Superbowl...?). It’s annoyingly over-the-top comedy and headache-inducing Green Police jingle just make you want to do bad things....like take the Audi A3 TDI for a test drive – right into oncoming traffic or better, the Green Police.
Moving on...
2. Dove for Men - Journey to Comfort
Where to begin? For me, this ad fails on so many levels. You can just see the outer lining of a good concept, but somewhere during the execution phase the good concept just went bad. The tagline is about men going through the difficulties of life....as a young man, a husband, father, point-man – and having to handle the pressures and expectations (like the responsibility of kids, the lawn, dishes...the wife). Presumably, according to the ad, men handle it because that’s what real men do so be comfortable with the man you are and the life you have.
Heh? Sorry. Simply put, the message doesn’t match ‘the message.’ The message in this ad is really about “acceptance and resignation.”
Instead of feeling the intended: “I’m a man and I’m comfortable with my life, my manhood and my responsibilities” what I got was more along the lines of: “I was doing fine right up until I met my wife. I now despise my life, I’m a pussy and a drone but whatever...cheers *insert sappy smile and cue the cheesy end-music*”
At the end of the commercial I’m asking myself two questions:
1) how many married men sadly identified with this commercial, and
2) how many single men are crossing marriage off the to-do list or debating a 10-year delay...
From a marketing perspective, this ad is so targeted it almost says unless you are a married man who despises his life and deals with it with acceptance and resignation – this soap isn’t for you. Not very effective marketing when more than 35% of male SB viewers are between the ages of 18-34. This ad alienates the vast majority of that potential.
But, having said that....I'd be interesting to know which of you liked the ad and why....
3. US Census - Snapshot of America
Of course this had to be on the list....
How much did the government pay for the 3rd quarter spot and all those vignettes?
And...why? Thank you government for putting my tax dollars to work so effectively. And for the record, the ad sucked.
Labels:
Marketing
12 comments:
Great post D, well written and funny! As a fellow marketing guru, I can't help but analyze these ads and their objectives/targets when watching them. Often times I'm left scratching my head and wondering WTF were they thinking? They paid HOW much for that???
Crissy
I could hardly believe it! a POST...an actual post. Good stuff as always. I too was wondering just what Audi was thinking. Pandering to the green cause is one thing but advertising a comical nazi green police state is another. ha ha ha not funny. Green never felt so right? wrong. run down the douche bag driving the only car that gets out of the line-up...
I definitely agree that the Google Ad was the best, although of a bad lot. I missed "Kids These Days" during the game, so thank for pointing it out. I thought it subtle and clever. "The Casket" and the other Doritos commercials didn't do too much for me. I read somewhere that a lot of the Doritos commercials were ideas from the public.
I didn't think the FLOTV or the Dove for Men messages were that good or that bad, but frankly they both bored me within the first 5 seconds (even when re-watching them just now) so I probably didn't pay close enough attention.
I was disappointed with most of the ads, but I thought the real "turd in the punchbowl" was CBS's ad for "The Masters." It probably appealed to people that were planning to tune in, but I can't imagine it made anyone say, "hey, I think I'll watch The Masters afterall!"
curious d...any thoughts about the Tebow ad? It caused some fury here...
Dan, I don't recall seeing the Master's ad so I had to look it up....couldn't find it though.
Craig, I have my thoughts on whether or not a special interest subject should have been allowed to be promoted to begin with...but I'll leave my comments to the ad itself. From a marketing perspective I think it missed the mark of what it wanted to accomplish. I'd be interested to see the success numbers for how many people from the total viewing audience actually went to find out more about Tebow's life story because of the ad. The ad itself generated zero interest for me personally.
In fact, if I hadn't known the back-story of the ad going into it (and the controversy attached to it)...for certain I would have sat there scratching my head wondering what the heck the ad was about. ** The dude tackles his mom why...?? I don't get it. What the hell is Focus on the Family?? What's the point of this? Who ate my chips... ** Remember, the target audience for this ad: not those who are already pro-lifers or FOF-followers.
Obviously, FOF had to walk a fine line here - get a message across without turning heads or stomachs, possibly following strict guidlines; however, the objective was still to get a message across and drive interest to learn more about Tebow's story and that's where there's a disconnect. Even if they had major restrictions on scripting, plenty more could have been done to draw attention and curiosity to this human interest story. Key in on 'human interest' story. Everyone likes a good human interest story - play it up...you have 30 seconds to tell me who, what and why I should care. In short (or not so short) they could have created some drama with a light-hearted, sentimental ad that made you go, 'aww' - without ever getting into the subject of abortion...
I think the FOF ad was aimed at improving FOF's image, not sharing the human interest story. The Tebow were the medium, not the message. From that perspective, I think the ad worked.
I don't think the human interest angle was the purpose of the ad because there was little point in presenting it on that big stage. Christian conservatives already agreed with FOF message so there was no reason to spend Super Bowl money to talk to them (particularly for a group that laid off a couple hundred people not that long ago). Nor does it seem to be a persuasive message for people that identify as pro-choice, and even people that don't come down strongly on either side of the issue have heard and read both sides of the abortion argument.
If you look at the ad as a PR move for FOF, then things look a lot different, and it all has to do with the back story and build up. Look at how much press FOF received just for purchasing Super Bowl time. There was daily speculation on what they would say. Would they be preachy? Would the message be one of intolerance? Would FOF come off as screaming lunatics?
For all the controversy that many expected, the ad was a surprising let down: a nice mother and goofy son with a sweet, if anodyne, message. They seemed so normal!
I didn't say the purpose of the ad was the human interest story - ads are rarely about the stories themselves - yes, they're tools to help a brand or cause sell their message beit brand/awareness building, driving traffic, etc. The purpose of this ad was to promote an anti-abortion message using the Tim Tebow story. I alluded to this; I just went straight into talking about the strength of the ad content to sell the message.
That said, the current FOF landing page is not the same landing page that existed at the time the ad aired which expanded on the abortion story and ended with the FOF president saying, 'don't kill your baby.' In totality (from ad-to-website) I would disagree with your PR image-building assessment. Yes, they wanted to shock people by using the build-up of controversy and going against the grain of expectation, but image-building was not the end-goal of this campaign.
First: FOF took the position we were expecting them to take on abortion - they did it on their website using the ad to drive traffic.
Second: from a PR perspective and looking solely at the ad...the ad itself said and promoted nothing...including the brand. The messaging and branding "at best" was muddied and unclear. Sublety isn't good PR when people are left asking Who? and What? We're talking about a 30 second spot with no mention of who or what until the last 3 seconds - all stuff you have to read including a web address - and that's where the FOF reference is. Who's the real audience? People who hate FOF aren't going to suddenly say 'oh, gee...they aren't the fanatically religious hate-group I thought they were..."
Image-building? please.
Third: at the time the ad aired, there were other controversial links and FOF information on the landing page regarding transgenders, gays and lesbians, etc.. Clearly a different landing page than what you see now. What was the intent?
Image building? wink-wink.
Yes, it's all about the audience.
You are correct in your comment about Christian conservatives and pro-choicers not being the target audience. The Tebow segment on the website wasn't necessarily offensive but the language used was evangelical and not plain-speak...not wisely tailored for a new audience but more for those already part of their niche audience. PR-fail. The people they really wanted to reach was...well, everyone else (more especially those in their teens, 20s and 30s). The objective is to hook these people: the single pregnant woman contemplating abortion, the teenager or college student sexually active and unprotected, the struggling family that doesn't think they can afford to feed another mouth (or just think 12 is way to many...) etc., etc.
"Audience and targeting"
FOF paid $3million not for the ad but for the buzz on the controversy leading up to a 30 second spot.. On the buzz respect, the PR team scored a huge win but not from an ad-marketing perspective because the ad itself was a wash as was the 'ad-extension' on the landing page. At the end of the day, brand awareness probably increased for those who had never heard of FOF ..thank you buzz...but brand image wasn't moved one way or the other. The $3MM could have been better spent from a holistic marketing standpoint.
Not too sure about building image. I never went to the website but with all the hype leading up to it, you blinked and it was over. I thought wait a minute that was it??? Maybe there were no hate-vibes after but I don't think the eh, shrug reaction is considered a successful PR move either. Besides, looked more like a Tim Tebow ad to me!!! He'll probably do well because of it. Maybe a Nike ad next? He tackled Mom pretty good in that run ;-)
Why don't you put this your FB page so I don't have to remember to check!! lol. All I know is I didn't know who Tim Tebow was until the ad and wow, he is HOT! Now I pay attention so in a way, it kind of was a Tebow ad! Score one for little Timmy lol.
--Kel.
Let me guess Deanna...
You're more active on that Headbook thingy, right?
Does that explain the biannual post frequency?
:>
LOL. Well, I guess I probably couldn't get away with saying my cat ate my posts...??
stupid cat. ;)
Or maybe it's my undiagnosed ADD..no, ADHD?? Too many things going on I just..can't...focus! I start and can't finish before something else pops up...
no?
OK, yes.. it's that Headbook thingy *you're so clever*... RUINED! It's amazing how many liberals I know on Facebook...They've got me occupied full time! LOL.
Post a Comment