Well, another year gone and Lee Clow just popped the cork in celebration of the best Super Bowl spot that still remains undefeated.(Note, my comments from earlier in the game follow.) You can view all the spots here on ifilm. USA Today also has the results of their ad meter poll here, but how can you really trust a system that’s based on volunteers watching the ads in only two cities, Houston and McLean, VA, and not people from across the entire country.
Anyway, I gotta say first off, (and this just may be a Miami thing), but: Weirdest. Opening. Ever.
What the hell was that? Looked like fans dressed as mimes stormed the field and started flipping people around in some meth-fueled Olympic homage to Salvador Dali.
In no order, I rated things that really stood out in various categories for me independent of any comments made by adrants or adfreak guest bloggers, etc. We’ll just have to agree to disagree if you think I’m full of it. Like they say: blogs are like opinions – everybody has one.
Funny - Geico caveman and Phil Simms playing golf (pre-game) • Combos • First Sierra Mist spot, combover • Bud Auction guy at wedding, Bud Light Mencia girlfrinds • Sprint connectile spot. (THANK YOU. Finally, somebody killed the problem of the 4-hour dial-up and made fun of the little blue pill.)
Not funny - Snickers. Disgusting.
Sucked - Doritos first UGC SUH-Hucked. (Girl tripping). Duct tape spot was better. Oh, and let’s add a credit to every ad, not just user-generated ones. That just shows me the brand doesn’t have enough confidence to let the spot stand on its own with a cya credit “Hey, if you don’t like it, it’s not our fault – an amateur did it” • Blockbuster mouse.
Literal dreadfulness: King pharmaceuticals heart attack spot • E-trade. Wow, what a shock, pharma and financial brands being too literal with five metaphors in every spot. That NEVER happens.
Just missed the mark - The Bud rock paper scissors and Bud slapping. (Sorry, I don’t like the violence like this that’s in the Dodge Nitro vein where nobody gets hurt and nothing gets damaged. The cartoon violence of Wyle E. that I grew up on is alive and well and has morphed into today’s culture of live-action violence. Also see the Doritos UGC spot #1 where nobody gets hurt.) • Bud Light Carlos Mencia. Racist spot? Tough to say but Carlos felt neutered in a lot of the spots regardless • Chevy American revolution with celebrities only? They’ve become the Diet Pepsi of the auto world: too many stars, not enough genuine moments • Second Sierra Mist spot in dojo • Careerbuilder.com: you guys left the monkeys too soon. They still had some miles left • GM lonely robotic thing (wonder if all the real workers replaced by robotic arms felt as suicidal)
Mediocrity has a new name: Sales Genie
Nice - Mercedes-Benz got the brand message back on track • NFL party spot with Beckham and the “Nice move, Cowher” guy, That brand definitely knows its identity • Toyota with a more real spot instead of Nessie tossing trucks is making a Bold Move to out-Ford Ford • Bud: Nobody does sad animals better • African American heritage spot. One of the few brands that understood the NFL, besides the NFL
Safe, executed creative brief: Ford (no Bold Moves there with exploded car slo-mo) • Honda element. Where were the crabs, busy helping Bud move coolers? Missed opportunity to be more funky there • Acura • PNC • Revlon Sheryl Crow (your brief is REALLY showing) • Michelin
Jumped: GoDaddy, Emerald Nuts. (But mostly GoDaddy) Emerald had this slick weirdness to it that made me miss the Druids.
Overall thoughts:
- Unless you have the money like Coke, why spend so much money for airtime just to rerun something that ran already - for less money?
- This may be Larry King obvious, but huge brands with deep pockets can afford to have half of their six spots tank. Brands with only one spot? Way more pressure on them to do well.
- Magic of halftime now spread out and diluted throughout entire game. Halftime has lost it’s unique appeal.
- Branded entertainment is where I’d go. More pre-game Geico Cavemen stuff like Phil Simms golf match next year.- STOP ADDING THE NAMES OF CONSUMERS WHO MADE THE UGC SPOTS. You don’t add agency names to normal work, why this stuff? Let it stand on its on own or start putting a CP+B on every BK spot.
- Prince can still jam, but do we need safe musical acts like that and/or Billy Joel? Thanks Janet and Justin. I owe you.
- Funniest comment I read so far about any ad: “The robot commercial made my wife cry, and now she's angry at whomever made it- good job GM, not only will I not get a BJ, but we'll never buy your product. Thanks. Fire your agency.”
Tags: Super Bowl opening, Salvador Dali, Super Bowl spots
6 comments:
It def lost something in the translation.
Loved Prince. Loved him. I seriously screamed when the FAMU band came out because I love them too. And he played some Hendrix right?
CareerBuilder? Maybe if I was watching with a roomful of people, I'd laugh.
(I'm switching back and forth from the Puppie Bowl re-run because: puppies!)
I agree with most. But I freakin hate that caveman. After the game while the "caveman airport" aired, a room full of 35+ non-agency people all screamed how much they can't stand him.
And with Prince - am I, and the same room full of people mentioned above, the only ones who caught his REAL halftime teaser? Nice job, Prince.
Bob Parsons' brief dancing cameo in GoDaddy's spot was sick. Not sick in the new way they define sick. Sick as in vomiting on the floor sick.
Where'd you find the BJ quote? That's priceless.
TT - the link above in the first sentence should take you there, although adfreak may be slow today due to traffic. If it doesn't, I’ll hunt it down.
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