There were no safeties scored in the New England Patriots’ win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX. But a conservative, safety-first approach off the field arguably stopped many Super Sunday ads from scoring any touchdowns, according to several agency artisans asked to assess the Big Game.
A lack of risk-taking wasn’t entirely unexpected. With last year’s Super Bowl controversy over the Janet Jackson halftime debacle–coupled with lowest common denominator, sophomoric humor from some Big Game sponsors in 2004–conventional wisdom was that advertisers would tread carefully this time around.
However, another respondent to SHOOT‘s Super Bowl survey contended that this very same dynamic–concern over being offensive–actually helped to spur on creative in the ’05 field of Big Game ads.
At the same time, yet another veteran creative felt the Janet Jackson effect might have been overrated. He related that this latest round of Super Bowl ads didn’t seem all that dramatically different from those of recent years.
The prevalent opinion was that the ’05 Super Bowl ad crop was somewhat lackluster. Yet whether you regard the glass as half-full, half-empty, shattered or filled to the brim, the good news was that at least the game was close, sustaining viewer interest through all four quarters. Here’s some of the industry feedback to the Super Bowl XXXIX ads:
Ric Anello
Chief creative officer
Ric Anello Creative Consortium, St. Louis
The old adage goes something like you do your best work when you’re forced into a corner and have to find your way out. I think that’s what happened. Rather than holding people back, the Janet Jackson factor in a weird way made agencies turn out better work in order to find a way around it. The Diet Pepsi stuff–the Hummer parody with the Pepsi truck–was terrific. What client wouldn’t want to see their logo in every second of a commercial? But what viewer would pay attention to it if you did? Yet here the logo was on the screen seemingly every second because the spot [“Trucks” featuring P. Diddy and directed by Joe Pytka of Venice, Calif.-based PYTKA for DDB New York] was entertaining and engaging.
We also saw two new Super Bowl advertisers with spots that made it seem they had plenty of Big Game experience and that they belonged–Ameriquest Mortgage and Careerbuilder.com. The “here kitty, kitty” ad for Ameriquest [“Surprise Dinner” directed by Craig Gillespie of bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander (MJZ) for DDB Los Angeles] had great shock and surprise value, hitting home the point not to judge a book by its cover. The same for the spot with the guy who’s on the cell phone at the convenience store[also helmed by Gillespie]. The storekeepers hear his side of the conversation but don’t realize he’s on the phone, thinking he’s instead about to rob them. The way they defend themselves–with mace, a baseball bat and an electric prod–was just outlandishly funny.
Careerbuilder.com with its over-the-top visual comedy featuring monkeys coupled with an understated human actor really worked [directed by Bryan Buckley of bicoastal/international Hungry Man for Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago]. This and the Budweiser spot [“Journey” directed by Albert Kodagolian of Tate USA, Santa Monica, for DDB Chicago] scored for best use of animals in the Super Bowl. It was a great sequel to last year’s spot where the donkey gained inclusion into the famed Clydesdales. Now other animals want to be part of the Clydesdale team, showing that the original ad wasn’t “one trick donkey.”
David Baldwin
Executive creative director
McKinney + Silver, Raleigh, N.C.
I thought the ads were incredibly disappointing. I thought they were really, really bad for the most part. At this point, the Super Bowl is the stage for advertising, and its one of the venues where people actually watch the advertising. And in fact, it’s one of the last places where I think people accept advertising, as a non-intrusion–they like it–[But] there were only a few really good commercials.
I thought the best spot overall, by far, was the Bud Light “Parachute” spot [directed by Michael Downing of harvest, Santa Monica, for DDB Chicago], where the pilot jumped out of the cockpit. That spot was hilarious. And I thought it was one of the only commercials that reached back to the spots of old that were really terrific. It was better than any of the Bud Light spots from last year. … However, I thought that was the only Bud Light spot [from this year] that was good. … I thought the other ones really disappointed. There was such a big over-reaction to last year, with clients and agencies being careful not to offend anybody [this year] that I think they just decided to play it safe.
The other thing that I noticed, the Super Bowl traditionally has been a place to break spots, to break a new campaign, to break news. And last night there were a whole bunch of spots that were not new. And I’m sure that it’s because when you’re paying $2.4 million for the media, you don’t go off and spend a million on production. The Toyota Prius spot [out of Saatchi & Saatchi LA, Torrance, Calif., and directed by Tarsem of bicoastal/international @radical.media] was a nice spot, but it broke last year. Cialis [out of Grey, New York, directed by Jonathan Darby, who is with Original Film, Los Angeles] did almost the exact same spot as they did last year, and it was just as bad the second time, but at least they didn’t blanket it, and I didn’t have to explain erectile dysfunction to my eight-year-old this year. …
Here’s my spot that I think did a great job of doing what Super Bowl commercials can do, and that was for Ameriquest Mortgage. Ameriquest is a brand that as far as I know, has never done anything. And yet last night, they did two of the best spots. I thought the cat spot was just really, really awesome. I thought the way it made it’s point was very, very clever, and it just made you stand up and notice Ameriquest, and that’s what a Super Bowl spot is supposed to do. And I think out of everybody, they’re the ones who got their money’s worth, because now I know who they are.
I thought the Godaddy.com spot [directed by Bryan Buckley of Hungry Man for The Ad Store, New York] with the wardrobe malfunction was so gratuitous and so easy, it belonged on last year’s Super Bowl, with all the other gratuitous, easy dumb spots.
Again the Super Bowl is a stage, it’s a stage where you stand up; it’s akin to being given a chance to step out on stage and sing and be really awful, or singing the “Star Spangled Banner,” but singing it in monotone. I thought the Honda campaign [for the Ridgeline truck directed by Erich Joiner of Tool of North America for Rubin Postaer and Associates, Santa Monica] where they’re introducing this really cool product–didn’t step up to the stage at all. And if you compare it to the work that Honda’s been doing in the U.K., there’s just no contest. In fact, Honda would have been better off running “Cog” from last year, or one of their other spots.
The other one that I thought was a big disappointment was Napster. I think Napster is a youth brand, it’s a rebel brand, and it’s a very cool product. And they’re up against one of the most culturally relevant brands in the world right now–Apple and the iPod, and they did this really rational, boring comparison spot.
I thought the Bubblicious spot [“Spotlight” out of JWT, New York, and directed by Josh & Xander of bicoastal/international Partizan] was atrocious-alicious.
I thought the most courageous thing of the night belonged to McDonald’s with the “Lincoln Fry” [directed by David Shane of Hungry Man] and [trying to drive people to the Lincolnfry.com Web site]. … I thought it was interesting and they did pique my interest to check it out. And I do like the fact that if you’re going to spend all that dough on the Super Bowl, they tried to do something bigger than a TV commercial. …
And my biggest disappointment of the night was Pepsi and iTunes [out of TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles, and directed by Baker Smith of harvest], because Pepsi used to own the Super Bowl, the way Bud Light has over the last few years. … I thought the P. Diddy spot [“Trucks”] was as close as they got to being OK. For the most part, Pepsi was a real no show. Again, you’ve got one of the brands that are known for great advertising, and you’ve got Apple, which is known for cultural relevance, and then you do something kind of very straight. And those spots must have cost so much money to do, to get the rights for everything. I just found them to be very boring, and sort of uneventful. …
I actually thought the Mustang spot [“Green Light,” out of JWT, Detroit, and directed by Patrick Sherman of bicoastal Anonymous Content] with the frozen guy was pretty good. And the only other one I wanted to mention was the Anheuser-Busch spot with the soldiers [“Applause” directed by Pytka for DDB Chicago], which I thought was beautifully done, I thought it was pretty tear inducing, but I felt manipulated after seeing it. I guess it’s politically incorrect to not like that–you have to like that one. I just didn’t believe that. I’ve walked up to soldiers in airports, and thanked them. But, it just felt very Hollywood made-up to me. The way they did it, like with the slow clap, and then everyone starts clapping, it was like the end of a bad sports movie.
Marty Cooke
Creative partner
SS+K, New York
If not Janet Jackson’s breast, at least show me her belly button. Heck, Paul McCartney’s navel would have been a high point on this Super Bowl extravaganza of self-censorship. Everyone except Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch ran for cover. Welcome to life in the age of self-righteousness.
As usual, what people consider safe is some rosy-colored version of the past. An ex-Beatle singing songs older than most of the viewers. Cadillac spots referring to old Mercedes ads. And didn’t the almost-moving Anheuser-Busch spot [“Applause”] with people clapping meaningfully for returning vets remind you of the spot with farmers clapping meaningfully for the Olympic torchbearer a few years back? I think I spotted one of those farmers at the airport.
I’m not saying cheap tricks like wardrobe malfunctions, gratuitous sex and adolescent humor constitute creative bravery. But in sweaty fear of any kind of controversy, everyone played it safe. No chances were taken. The frozen guy in the Mustang was a fine spot [“Green Light”], but in a good year of Super Bowl spots, it would have been in the middle of the pack. There are a million ways to break the rules and stand out without stooping to being stupid. But not when everyone’s cowering with fear of the righteous right. Last night was proof of the insidious power of self-censorship.
Michael Mark
Creative director/CEO
NYCA, Encinitas, Calif.
The playing field has changed–with sensitivity to 9/11, then sensitivity to sexual issues, gross ads. Our sensibilities are in turmoil. We’re in a war right now. The Moral Majority has a loud voice. On one hand, you have to be concerned about so many factors, as well as how much it costs to create and run a spot. On the other hand, your ad is arriving at a party where you shouldn’t have any cares, where you’re supposed to have a good time. This can be a difficult balance for advertising people to get just right. It’s become very difficult to create a great Super Bowl ad.
Two ads I thought were pretty successful–that did indeed use sexual content, but in a milder fashion–were for Godaddy.com and Tabasco. They stood out due to a tamer surrounding environment. First off, the Godaddy.com name is memorable in and of itself. The name was on this knockout girl’s shirt. A strap came loose, hearkening back to the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction. Meanwhile the conservative men at the congressional hearing were transfixed on her–but they were offended. It kind of lampooned the conservative mindset we’re in today. This spot went against the current and I think it probably generated a lot of visitors to the client’s site.
The Tabasco ad wasn’t as good as the one the company did a few years ago with the mosquito. But this one [“Tan Line” directed by Keith Rose of bicoastal Velocity@Crossroads for DDB Dallas] was somewhat successful with branding on the bathing suit of this attractive girl. Because she ate Tabasco sauce, her sunburn came from within, underneath the bikini strap instead of on her skin that was exposed to the sun. It was a great idea.
My favorite commercial [Anheuser-Busch’s “Applause] was the troops at the airport getting applause from people at the terminal. It got your attention and grabbed you emotionally while supporting brand value in an understated way.
Second best, I thought, was Napster. It hit me in my wallet. The ad took on the favorite, the iPod, and simply said we can beat you. Here’s our play–$15 a month to fill up your MP3 player, as compared to thousands of dollars on an iPod. It was an inexpensively produced spot, which spoke to the issue of saving money. I give that a touchdown.
Tom O’Keefe
Executive creative director
Foote Cone & Belding, Chicago
There was so much talk before the game about this being a different kind of Super Bowl in light of what happened [Janet Jackson] last year. I expected it to be more conservative based on that. But I didn’t feel completely different about the ads this year than the year before or the year before that. There were some winners, some spots in-between and some not so great.
The FedEx spot [“Top Ten” directed by Hungry Man’s Bryan Buckley for BBDO New York] was my favorite. It was so about the Super Bowl in a self-effacing way [outlining, with tongue in cheek, the elements needed for a successful Super Bowl spot]. It just nailed it and wound up foreshadowing some of what was coming. We later saw a celebrity, Brad Pitt [for Heineken in a spot market buy], then we saw animals and so on. The FedEx spot just broke out of the clutter as being THE Super Bowl spot.
I also admired the Careerbuilder work. They ran three spots. The first one had me thinking “I’ve seen chimps before,” but I liked strategically where this was going. Instead of be all you can be, the message was to be careful where you’re working; we’ll help find the right place for you. Then later, the second ad was even funnier with the guy telling the chimp executive that it wasn’t a good idea to name a product Titanic. From a copywriting standpoint, that line stood out for me. Then the third ad sealed it; it was a very smart approach.
The Brad Pitt ad for Heineken [directed by David Fincher of Anonymous Content for Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam] was big production and a simple idea, extremely well done and funny–a guy of that stature going out to get a beer. It broke out of the pack.
Simplicity rules. The Budweiser spot with the guy jumping out of a plane, about going to great lengths for a Bud Light, is an example. I laughed out loud.
The Ameriquest stuff was well done but I had no idea what to take away in terms of Ameriquest. It was a great idea, well written but needed a more succinct wrap-up. The Bud Light spot with the parrot [“Lady” directed by John Immesoete of Backyard Productions, Venice, Calif., which he wrote via Backyard sister shop Seed for DDB Chicago] seemed funny but I couldn’t hear everything during the game. It missed a little bit for me. But when I saw it online the next day, I liked it a lot more. That underscores why simplicity rules; ideas that don’t need the volume turned up, that can break through the clutter. There are a lot of dynamics that go beyond if your spot is good and well written. The simpler it can be, the better and the funnier.
Editor’s note: Check out SHOOT’s e.dition next week for more agency feedback on the Super Bowl commercials.
