SuperBowl Ads 2009
Going for the buzz without getting Stung
Ads on SuperBowl 43
Bad Buzz: The cheap joke. A kick in the groin may be good for a laugh. But it’s certainly not sophisticated, original or memorable.
Bad Buzz: The cutsie joke or simple pun. Again, the easy way out. Not likely to be talked about at the water cooler
Mixed buzz: The one-second commercial. The Super Bowl ad hype is all about BIG. The game is big. The ad price tag is big. The ads are entertaining in a big way. How about a strategy of Less-is-More? Play up the fact that you’re going to have a ONE SECOND ad. They received free publicity and an audience anticipating watching the minimal ads. The execution was something else. Did they air a one-second ad? Did I blink at the wrong time? I had a TV in the bathroom. Maybe Less-Got-Missed.
Mixed buzz: The 3-D Ad. Again, something different creates buzz. The 3-D ad publicity was picked up by our local TV News program here in Las Vegas. They even showed a clip from the commercial. The glasses were available locally and they were free. Good buzz if it had delivered. I’ve seen good 3-D on a TV screen before, but not today. For sure, I wouldn’t have wanted to watch 30 minutes of it.
Mixed Buzz: A rejected ad can be both positive and negative. This year a 30-second PETA ad was rejected for being too sexual. PETA ads are often on-the-edge, but they’re certainly not the only ads on the airwaves featuring scantily clothed women. Like a woman in a bikini selling cars makes more sense? I sometimes suspect that vegetarians make people more uncomfortable than naked people. Never-the-less, they received a ton of FREE publicity. It’s like an R-rated movie getting free publicity from a church protest. PETA had lots of people see their ad and it didn’t cost them $3 million for a Super Bowl spot. A positive result from PETA’s viewpoint. Personally I didn’t find the ad offensive, enticing, or effective.
Good Buzz: As usual the Humor ads dominated the day’s commercials. They’ll be remembered and talked about. Typically 70-80% of the SuperBowl ads feature humor or at least try to make you smile.
Here are some of my favorite SuperBowl 2009 Ads
February 16th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
“Genericating” or “Impersonalizing” is One common , generally
good way to lessen the “sting” of a “realistic” joke. Discuss ” A man, ” ” A Minister, ” “This Policeman,” etc. — NOT a Specific Person.
Al Capp took some of the “sting” out of his put-downs of Russia
in “Li’ll Abner ” Cartoon strips by calling it ” Lower Slobovia ” — and Exagerrating everything.
Also ( Related to above ) : ” Using” Commonly- accepted Stereotypes : “Politicians are crooked,” “Husbands are
Lazy ” ( “Dagwood and Blondie” ), “Blonde women are Dumb,”
Teens have messy rooms, Computer Wizards are
“socially awkward,” etc. And Farmers are unsophisticated,
“Rocket Scientists” are super-smart, etc. Joke-creators and
joke-tellers do not have to believe these stereotype are true, though. In fact, “Reversing” the commonly-held Sterotype may
be the kicker / end of joke. — Sol M –