Posts Tagged ‘super bowl ads’

I enjoyed watching a great game of football on Sunday, as the New Orleans Saints came from behind and beat the Indianapolis Colts.  And just like every year, I eagerly watched to see what the creative minds on Madison Avenue would serve up during commercial breaks.  When I saw that Google was advertising, I thought, “Really?  Do they need to start advertising on TV?  Has no one heard of the little search engine that could?”.  But sure enough, 52 seconds later I was charmed by a simple commercial with no production value that nevertheless has a narrative story arc and an emotional pull.  Enjoy:

The bad is that, while many new brands and companies made their Super Bowl debuts, I don’t recall any of their ads. Unfortunately, there were just a lot of ads that were not very memorable. I remember seeing Megan Fox, but what product was she selling? Beats me.

The ugly, unfortunately, was an overall sexist tone to many ads. I don’t expect enlightened 30 second spots for beer and peanuts, mind you, but when you put together Dockers’ Wear the Pants campaign, Bud light swilling men interrupting a women’s book club meeting (“I’d love to see words come out of your mouth”), a man trading his wife for Bridgestone tires, a man accompanying his wife shopping who has “had his spine removed” (with commentary from Jim Nantz, no less!), and the worst of all, an ad for Dodge Charger where we hear a litany of all the horrible things about being a man and dealing with women. Presumably, Dodge Charger will deliver men from their sissified lives. I don’t think I’m the only Super Bowl viewer who noticed this trend. Let’s hope it’s shortlived.

For football fans everywhere, especially in Indiana and Louisiana, Super Bowl XLIV represents a contest between two great teams and 3 hours or more of riveting football action.  For non-football fans, the Super Bowl is still something to look forward to.  Some people go to the bathroom during the game and stay glued to the TV set to see the most original, most outrageous, funniest, and yes, the most expensive commercials of the year.  The Super Bowl is a chance for lesser known companies to get the word out and drive traffic to a site (witness the success of GoDaddy.com), as well as a chance for established brands like Budweiser and Doritos to wow audiences each year with new, humorous ads.

It is because of the Super Bowl tradition of raucous, funny ads that I cringe at the prospect of Tim Tebow’s ad for Focus on the Family.  I strongly support anyone exercising their First Amendment right to free speech, and from what I understand, the commercial will be about the Tebow family’s very personal pro-life beliefs.  I respect their beliefs, but I think that the airing of such personal and potentially contentious views during what is normally a fun-filled afternoon of chips, beer, football, and funny, original advertising is simply not being done in the right context.  Leave the controversy off the field, and let everyone enjoy a (relatively) controversy-free Super Bowl Sunday.

What do you think?