2008 SUPER BOWL AD RECAP BY THE BRAND

Super Bowl 2008 Ad Recap by the Brand -
Overall I kept having the feeling that I was watching the terrible Dot.com ads from the 2000 Super Bowl. Too many brands behaving badly, trying too desperately to get our attention with sophomoric gross out humor and stunts while forgetting to tell us anything about the brand.  (Toyota, Sales Genie, Planters, Tide, Career Builder, Go Daddy, Cars.com, E-trade, Doritos mouse trap, Amp, etc.)   We can watch stuff like that on YouTube every day.  As a matter of fact, you can see all 55 of the Super Bowl ads on YouTube Ad Blitz in the gallery section and also see how people voted for the ads

I think most of the brands forgot this year that almost half the viewers of the Super Bowl are women.  We desperately needed a Dove ad. I think the biggest losers this year was consumer created content and viewer generated contests that are running out of steam.  Doritos "Crashed the Superbowl" last year and showed great ads created from consumers as part of a contest. This year the winning song and music video from the Doritos song contest was Bum, Bum, Boring. I also found it remarkable how poorly the celebrities were used in the ads.  No real connection with the ad concepts or brands.

Bud started out well in the first half and fizzled in the second half. The automotive ads were all pretty bad but Hyundia had better ads than Toyota and GM. Movie Trailers?  Is it just me or are most of the new film trailers looking exactly like the same Matrix movie remake? 

With the best ads featuring animals and balloon characters, I am surprised that we didn't get to see an ad featuring a talking baby monkey that flies with x-ray vision super powers that allow him to see through the clothes of sexy women.  Let me know if you agree with my ad recap.   Do you think I missed any of the biggest winners or losers?

Best ads - 
Coke - Dueling Balloons - Loved it.  Finally a big idea rises to the occasion and delivers.
Bridgestone - Screaming animals.  Screaming fun.  Screaming Richard Simmons.  Traumatic. Also, a winner - Bud - The Rocky theme with the Dalmatian training Hank the Clydesdale was also fun.

Worst ads - Doritos, Sales Genie, GoDaddy, Toyota, Career Builder, T-Mobile, Victoria Secret

1st Half Recap - Few ads stood out.  Use of celebrities in ads make fans the biggest losers.
The animals in the ads have been the best thing about the first half.
Bud Light Continues to fan the cheesy flames of the American funny bone.

By the Brand - 1st Half

1st Quarter Recap
Bud Light - Flame on funny.
Audi - Grotesque is not a good way to sell a beautiful brand.
Diet Pepsi Max - This Saturday Night Live rip off is ten years too late to be funny.
Sales Genie - If Sales Genie wished  to put me to sleep their wish was granted.
Under Armor - Apple 1984 Big Brother wannabe was not Super Bowl ready.
Bridgestone - Screaming animals equals screaming good fun.
Doritos - Bum, Bum, Boring.  Thank goodness Doritos got some mileage from all of their pre-game hype.
G2 - Special effects never make up for the lack of an idea.
Go Daddy - Multi-tasking is so common that this concept is Go-Dull.
Dell - Desperate plea to save Dell.
Fed Ex - Big Idea and special effects drops little payoff.

2nd Quarter Recap - Tide - Talking stain annoys rather than engages.
Bud - Rocky theme continues to inspire.
Toyota - Threat of badger attack erodes brand equity.  Was this an ad for a late 90's Dot.com?
Garmin - This cliche of the French is short on building the brand.
Career Builder - Heart escape is creepy and bizarre.  Maybe the heart is a symbol for the U.S. economy.  "I quit."
Life Water - I thought I was watching an ad for Geico.  Beyonce (Naomi / Tyra) is the worst use of a celebrity in awhile.
GM - Why this ad?  Never again please.
Bud Light - Demeaning immigrants is Bud's first half misstep
Planters - Unibrow is instinctively mean spirited.
T-Mobile - Fave 5 gets my vote for the bottom five of the Super Bowl ads.
Pepsi - Justin Timberlake brings nothing back to Pepsi.
Doritos - Recycles last years mouse trap.  Consumer created content is running out of steam.

2008 Super Bowl Ad Recap by the Brand continued

By the Brand - 2nd Half

3rd Quarter Recap - Zantac / Claritin - Zetia / Vytorin / Vioxx   Direct to consumer
pharmaceutical television ads need to go away for awhile until
marketing ethics are discovered.
Cars.com - Where did they steal this idea?  Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice,
Beetlejuice.
Sales Genie - If just being there is it all it takes than Sales Genie
wins.
Vitamin Water - Another celebrity ad that misses by a mile.
Bud Light - The caveman and the wheel joke should have been left in
the Bud cave.
Ice Cube Gum - Celebrities in ads fail to stick this year. Bridgestone -
Animals screaming is funny.  Richard Simmons screaming
is traumatic.
Career Builder - Wishing won't get you a good Super Bowl ad either.
Hyundia - I guess the early rumors of Hyundia pulling out of the Super
Bowl were justified.
E-Trade - Gross out ending throws talking baby out with the bath water.
Bud Light - Fails to get off the ground.

4th Quarter Recap
Coke - Dueling Balloons - Loved it.  Finally a big idea rises to the occasion and delivers.
Coke - Politicians - The last place you want to be reminded of politicians in an election cycle is while watching the Super Bowl
Toyota - Continues to behave like a Dot.com startup and erode brand heritage
E-trade - The baby is more creepy than the clown.  At least he didn't vomit this time.
Taco Bell - Too slow
Gatorade? - I don't think a dog drinking Gatorade makes people want to drink it.
Bud Light - Sweat?
Hyundia - I did not care for the Hyundia ads but they were better than Toyota
Victoria Secret - I am not sure how they managed to make lingerie so not sexy.

So there is your 2008 Super Bowl Ad Recap by the Brand.  Did I miss any of the big winners or losers? 

I look 4WARD to your feedback.

Keep ""Digging For Worms"  

Comments

[Kirsten Paganelli]

Hi Bill! I agree with your comments on 2008 Superbowl advertisements. Where I do like bathroom humor, it would be nice to see women targeted more effectively. Is it too much to ask for a great ad where women kick ass while consuming sports related drink/bar? What about an ad where girlfriends are sitting around drinking Bud Light after beating the boys playing flag football. (beer was the prize) What about a "melt your heart" ad from Fed Ex where boy surprises girl. T-mobile ad where American soldier calls home. Fan wins and wears pro athletes Under Armor clothing, maybe oversized but cool. I did love the dog drinking from the water dish, couldn't take my eyes off (hook), but was disappointed to find out it was Gatorade. They should of had the dog do some incredible, athletic stunt to end commercial. And I will always be hot for JT, unless he goes back to Brit. Take care, Kirsten

[Bill a.k.a. DR4WARD]

It is true about the waste. However, I am not sure how strategic it is if a brand alienates a majority of the Super Bowl viewing audience by using gross-out / frat humor in an attempt to target a younger demo. It reminds me of a restaurant known for being popular with seniors and families. They decided to become cool and hip to attract a younger audience. They changed the colors of the restaurant and the menu to appeal to the younger audience. They failed to convince the young audience that they were the hip place to be and at the same time they alienated their loyal senior customers and families. They went out of business shortly thereafter.

[Tom Collins]

Interesting generation gap.

So I guess that means you can target age groups effectively. Or, it goes back to the adage:

"You know that half of your advertising spending is wasted, but you never know which half!"

(until after you survey the audience?)

[Bill a.k.a. DR4WARD]

Hi Tom - Good point. Overall viewers and attention decline as the game goes on, especially with lopsided scores. Burnout may be a big factor too. There were 55 ads in the game. Depending on who you talk to some say the best ads were in the beginning. Others say the best ads were in the second half. It is pretty subjective. Many of my students enjoyed the gross-out ads that I was critical of. Given that the Super Bowl audience is much broader than just college students I think the gross out strategy is a risky one unless a brand doesn't mind alienating a majority of the viewers.

[Tom Collins]

Hi, Bill. Your observation that, overall, the ads seemed stronger in the first half and then faded in the second bears at least a superficial relationship to the game itself. As the game went on and remained close, could it be that viewers with an interest in the game lost interest in the ads? So many of the Super Bowls have been lopsided scores. Have you seen any opinion or research indicating any impact of the "quality" of the game on the effectiveness of the ads?