Super Bowl Ads 2008

">This article from Adage.com states:

Super Bowl advertising is "less about the relevance of a message but more about the entertainment quotient," said Devika Bulchandani, exec VP-director of strategic planning at the New York office of McCann Erickson. During the Super Bowl, she said, marketers "aren't selling a product; they are creating brand buzz."




The atmosphere was certainly buzzing as I watched this year's Super Bowl with about a dozen college-aged males. Although easily entertained, they remain critical of bad advertising.

I'm going to get straight to it and point out the worst Super Bowl commercials I've ever seen: Salesgenie.com - What an awful idea all around. I don't see how those commercials would appeal to anyone. They were mostly ignored by my audience, however there were a few comments made. "How much money did they spend on that waste of 30 seconds?" After shelling out about $6 million, I think that was an overall stupid decision by an unrecognizable company on crappy commercials that will never be remembered by the general audience.

There were more spots that got a critique from my boys, including the Sobe Life Water "Thriller." Although everyone seemed to enjoy the view, someone was quick to point out what a bad dancer the girl was, and how fake the lizards were. It got a few chuckles nonetheless.

Another failure was Carmen Electra and the Ice Cube Ice Breakers gum. I heard a distinct, "That was gay," from my crowd. If these guys aren't the target audience, then who the heck is? Waste of money...

Careerbuilder.com's "Follow your heart" was a little creepy. Instead of receiving the message, the guys just thought, "That was stupid." But the response to the little fairy getting eaten by a spider was a little better, although I have a feeling that both those commercials are likely to be forgotten the moment they're over. I doubt that this was the target audience, but still...

One commercial that seemed highly out of place was the Sunsilk ad. Clearly these guys are not the target audience, but I'm sure I probably was. I already use and like their products, but it still seemed weird. That was definitely a bold decision to hawk hair care products during the Super Bowl. I guess maybe I would be able to agree with it more if it had been a more entertaining commercial in general.

The Coke ad with James Carville and Bill Frist was lost on my audience. It was very lame and forgettable. Jinx? I mean, really... The one with Stewie and Charlie Brown chasing the big Coke balloons got a lot of laughs though. But did it make anyone want a Coke? I don't think so.

Pepsi got some laughs with Justin Timberlake being dragged around, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they just liked to see him get hurt. I doubt this will be memorable.

Before I get into the more effective ads, let's take a moment to reflect on the fact that Fox lost no chance to promote itself especially in the form of The Terminator: The Chronicles of Sarah Connor, plus American Idol, Prison Break, and The Moment of Truth.

Budweiser was, of course, a top contender. I think it's safe to say that all of Bud's ads were appealing to someone. The "Ability to Breathe Fire," the "Ability to Fly," and the Jackie Moon ad were the top rung with a lot of laughs. Next in line came "Hank and the Dalmatian Coach" and the Carlos Mencia ad. Last in terms of effective popularity among my crowd was the "Wine and Cheese Party" and the "Cavemen Invent the Wheel." I heard one guy I was with say that Jackie Moon's slogan of "Bud Light: Suck One" should become official. My Grandma and Mom liked "Hank and the Dalmatian Coach" so much, they had to call me in the middle of the game and talk about it. For these reasons, I think Bud did an excellent job of providing a variety of commercials to target different groups of people.

Another standout was the ad for Planter's cashews. The not-so-attractive, unibrow-clad gal who used nuts as perfume was a funny idea that actually used the product, so recall value should be high. This was my Dad's favorite ad and he text me right away to let me know. Everyone got a big laugh out of this one. What a great idea! As Lisa Haverty states in her article, "Don't Flush Your Ad Down the Super Bowl," using the product as the punch-line is very effective in producing cognitive brand recall.

e-Trade.com had a good idea, with perfect execution. The investor baby was adorable but so funny in a Look Who's Talking Now kind of way. These guys were laughing all the way through. Although I would highly doubt that any of them went back to their dorm rooms and started an e-Trade account, it seems like that is the kind of thing where just getting people used to the name will be beneficial. These are a bunch of smart guys who are poor college students now, but should make quite a bit of money that they can invest later on. And I think that e-Trade will definitely stay in their top-of-mind.

Bridgestone Tires had a couple hits with the "Screaming Animals" and "Richard Simmons." Both of these got a lot of laughs out of my group, and are likely to be remembered with help from the Bridgestone Halftime sponsorship.

And let us not forget the Victoria's Secret ad. I'm confident in saying that all the guys thoroughly enjoyed that one. I think it was definitely money well spent, because that is one that won't be soon forgotten, and will be engaging a certain audience for a while...

Overall, there was good and bad, worth and waste, memorable and forgetful. The Super Bowl ads of 2008 were hit and miss for a target audience of college guys.