In this politically correct era–or error, which might be a more apt description–some Super Bowl work didn’t make the cut. Snickers’ “Mechanics,” in which two men meet in the middle of a Snickers bar and end up kissing, got pulled after objections from GLADD and others who felt that the ad was homophobic.
Meanwhile the GM commercial in which a robot becomes despondent after being fired from a factory assembly line will be revised. In the original spot, the robot commits suicide by jumping off a bridge–only for viewers to find out that it was all a bad dream. But a suicide prevention organization criticized the ad, prompting GM to announce it would make changes to the commercial before it airs again.
Personally I didn’t take offense to either commercial–at least not in the same way that those reacting in protest did. I thought “Mechanics” was in the upper echelon of what was by most accounts a rather lackluster crop of Super Bowl ads this year.
But I was stunned to see the GM spot. Given the massive layoffs at the company and its well chronicled financial problems, the notion of showing a worker–albeit a robot–getting pink-slipped would seem among the last storylines that GM should embrace.
Mike Wolfsohn, one of several creative directors SHOOT canvassed for feedback on the Super Bowl commercials, concurred.
Wolfsohn, who is VP/creative director at Ignited Minds, Marina del Rey, Calif., observed, “It just blew my mind that anything having to do with employment at GM, particularly in a negative connotation, could get through so many approval processes and make it on air….That was the biggest debacle I saw through the whole game.”
So from a marketing perspective, that spot was off base. And so to an extent was the consumer-generated content experiment.
Wolfsohn related, “It’s kind of like one of my philosophies in running a creative department–in a lot of different shops, they put three, four or five teams on an assignment. That guarantees that one team will be happy and the others will be disappointed at the outcome.
“Similarly while the intention of consumer-generated content was to get tens of thousands of consumers interacting with the brand leading up to the Super Bowl, all those people who contributed to ideas for Doritos or Chevrolet or the NFL were probably disappointed with what was ultimately chosen. And now those people are probably less likely to be consumers of the brand than if they never participated in a commercial contest.”
Still there was inspiration to be found on Super Sunday.
“What’s funny,” observed Wolfsohn, “is some of the best ‘Super Bowl’ advertising I saw was actually on another channel, Animal Planet, which does The Puppy Bowl, three hours of puppies playing on a small football field, with a kitty halftime show. Between quarters, a Bissell vacuum comes in and cleans up, taking care of the furry mess. It integrates the vacuum product category beautifully with the game. It’s a really smart, solid marketing idea.”
“Mufasa: The Lion King” and “Sonic 3” Rule Box Office For 1st Weekend Of 2025
The Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa: The Lion King" claimed the No. 1 spot on the North American box office charts over the first weekend of 2025.
The photorealistic "Lion King" prequel earned $23.8 million in its third weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Paramount's "Sonic the Hedgehog 3," which has dominated the past two weekends, wasn't far behind.
"Sonic 3" stayed close with a 3-day estimate of $21.2 million, bringing its total domestic earnings to $187.5 million and helping the overall franchise cross $1 billion worldwide. "Mufasa's" running total is slightly less, with $169.2 million.
In third place, Focus Features' "Nosferatu" remake defied the fate of so many of its genre predecessors and fell only 39% in its second weekend. Horror films typically fall sharply after the first weekend and anything less than a 50% decline is notable. "Nosferatu," which added 140 screens, claimed $13.2 million in ticket sales, bringing its running total to $69.4 million since its Christmas debut. The film, directed by Robert Eggers, already surpassed its reported production budget of $50 million, though that figure does not account for marketing and promotion expenses).
No new wide releases opened this weekend, leaving the box office top 10 once again to holdovers from previous weeks. Several have been in theaters since Thanksgiving. One of those, "Moana 2," claimed the No. 4 spot for Disney in its sixth weekend in theaters. The animated sequel earned another $12.4 million, bumping its global total to $960.5 million.
The Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown," dipped only slightly in its second weekend, bringing in $8.1 million. With $41.7 million total, it's Searchlight's highest grossing film since Disney acquired the company in... Read More