So the big game is over, and it was definitely a great one! Now, let the analysis of the commercials begin. Personally, I think that the great commercials, as with any great marketing tool, consist of two parts. The first of these is a boom factor. Make it memorable. This can be through humor, but doesn’t necessarily have to be. It could be “cute” or make you think or just one that makes you say “Sweet!” The second part is for it to be strategically relevant to your product/company. This is where, in my opinion, most commercials fall short. A commercial may be really funny, but what good does it do if it doesn’t communicate any advantages to the viewer? Having said that, here are a few of my favorites and some which didn’t tickle my fancy (with links to Hulu where you can view each of them).
The Good
- NFL: Super Ad, Usama Young – Great follow up to last year’s commercial featuring the Texans with a feel good story of an NFL player. It combines humor and a sense of hope for people that anyone can do it. I think it’s great for the NFL to communicate the stories of these humble beginnings of players when you have the egotistical likes of T.O. and Ocho Cinco. It’s kind of refreshing to hear stories like this and understand how much it means for some players to be in the NFL.
- Coke Zero: Mean Troy – As soon as this one came on, I, and many others out there, knew exactly what it was related to, the Mean Joe Green commercial of old, one of the classics. Then, when you think you know what’s happening, the Coke Zero guys come in, reminding us of the more recent recognizable commercials. Furthermore, Coke’s making the clear statement that sure Coke Zero is a new product, but it’s the same classic taste. Great stuff from Coke.
- NBC – NBC had some of my favorite commercials of the night, which was somewhat surprising because I don’t remember any memorable station spots from years past. The first one, which may have been top 3 of the night was the LMAO spot. It was very funny and got the message across that NBC is very funny as well. So check out our shows! The other was the Heroes Football commercial. This one was good in that it got fans of the show stoked for the new season, added some humor, and also reached football fans with John Elway coming in at the end, hopefully getting some new people to check out the show.
E-Trade – How can you not love these commercials. E-trade has struck it rich with these spots. Everyone loves babies in general. They’re cute, they’re funny, and if you don’t love them you’re just a cruel person, haha. They’ve built an instantly recognizable character which can easily be put in many potentially hilarious situations, all of which demonstrate how E-trade is so easy, a baby can do it. Mad props to E-trade.- Hyundai: Angry Bosses – talk about a statement, Hyundai sure made one with this 30-second spot. They said what many people probably thought, Hyundai was car of the year? How embarrassing is that to the other automakers? The biggest spotlight Hyundai has had before was being in Kanye West’s “Golddigger” (win the super bowl and drive of in a hyundaaaaaaai!) In this commercial, they’re saying we’ve arrived and you sure as h*** better take us seriously. P.S. you pronounce it “Hyundai.”
- Chuck – not a commercial, but I’ll just throw it out there that i’ve never even heard of the show, but will be watching it tomorrow for the 3-D aspect of it, and they really have the chance to sales pitch their product to people like me, and hope we come back for more. Great strategy.
The Bad
- Cash4Gold.com – the commercial wasn’t bad, using MC Hammer. I just to put it here because I can’t help but think they went bankrupt in paying for the spot.
- Movie Trailers – Some of the movies looked pretty sweet, but I thought they coulda done much more with their $3 million dollar trailers. You’re telling me you couldn’t make transformers look even more super sweet than that? I just expected more than a “normal” movie trailer.
- Slapstick violence – Seems a large majority of commercials now are revolved around laughing at someone get hit in their nether areas (Doritos: Crystal Ball), or some sort of other laughing at someone’s injury (Bud Light: Drinkability Ski, Bud Light: Meeting, Doritos: Power of the Crunch). I’ll be honest, I laughed at each of these, more so than many others, but at the same time, it seems like taking the easy way out. How can we get laughs? Hey dude, stand over there and let me hit you in the nuts. Okay deal. Now we just need $3 million. Done.
By no means is this a comprehensive list of likes and dislikes, but is a great place to start some discussion. Leave some comments and let me know your thoughts on the commercials from the Super Bowl. After all, what’s the day after the Super Bowl without water cooler talk about the ads?
