Super Bowl advertising gained significant yardage this year on a couple of fronts. For one, more than half of the spots were shown in HD, likely establishing hi-def as the norm for marquee sporting events from now on.
The Big Game also scored on the creative barometer, at least according to the majority of agency artisans surveyed by SHOOT. Feedback generally was that the crop of commercials on Super Bowl XL surpassed that of the previous year. Here’s a sampling of what ad shop creative directors had to say about the latest round of Super Sunday ad fare:
David Baldwin, executive creative director/partner, McKinney, Raleigh, N.C.
The advertising overall was much better than last year–this time we went without Cialas and the [Budweiser] farting horses. At the same time, I still don’t think anyone used the Super Bowl stage to its full effect to make a major statement that causes people to take notice. For $2.5 million [the average cost of a :30 time slot], you’d like to achieve something that grand.
But there was a lot of good advertising. The FedEx caveman spot [“Stick” directed by Traktor of bicoastal/international Partizan for BBDO New York] was my favorite. It was a new, charming, funny way to say the same old thing about getting your package out on time.
ESPN’s “Sports Heaven” [directed by Jake Scott of bicoastal/international RSA for Arnold, Boston] was also a nice idea, pulled off well.
I thought the best Super Bowl spot was Hummer H3’s “Monsters” [directed by Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles, for Modernista!, Boston]. But because that spot has aired before, it was kind of disqualified from the Super Bowl running, which is a place to debut commercials.
The Ameriquest spots were good again [directed by Craig Gillespie of bicoastal/international MJZ for DDB Los Angeles], but not as good as the two that premiered on last year’s Super Bowl. That’s probably because last year they came out of nowhere. Nobody knew who Ameriquest was until those first Super Bowl ads, and the risk-taking concepts put them on the map and into the general consciousness of the public. They got every penny’s worth last year.
For me a disappointment has been Diet Pepsi [directed by Joe Pytka of Venice, Calif.-based PYTKA for DDB New York]–not that the spots were bad but mainly because Pepsi used to define the best Super Bowl advertising.
Carolyn Hadlock, principal/creative director, Young & Laramore, Indianapolis
I was surprised to see so many promos for movies and TV shows. It seems like there were many more than usual. Having three spots for Lost seemed a bit odd.
For me the Dove spot [“Little Girls” directed by Michael Rowles of bicoastal Order for Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago] had stopping power. A lot of young girls watch the Super Bowl and this sent out a positive message about self-esteem. I don’t think it was money misspent.
Another spot with stopping power was Motorola’s “PEBL” [directed by David Fincher of bicoastal Anonymous Content for 180 Communications, Amsterdam]. “PEBL” came out of Europe and it concerns me that more of the interesting spots are being created there. It’s a different take, sort of looking at things sideways.
The Super Bowl seems to be the one event where the spots are often entertainment just for entertainment’s sake. And some agencies seem to lose sight of the fact that you can be entertaining while also being relevant and serving the client’s purpose.
There also seemed to be a lot of looking back in this year’s Super Bowl. “PEBL” is going backwards through evolution. FedEx took us back to the dinosaur age. United Airlines [directed by Jamie Caliri of DUCK Studios, Los Angeles, for Fallon, Minneapolis] took us back to King Arthur’s time. MasterCard took us back to the TV series MacGyver [directed by Tom Kuntz of bicoastal/international MJZ for McCann Erickson, New York].
Maybe there’s comfort in the past, and the stakes are so high in the Super Bowl that people tend to gravitate to properties that are tried and true. Maybe that’s why you rely on a known entity like Kermit The Frog for Ford Escape [directed by Bruce Dowad of Bruce Dowad Associates, Los Angeles, for J. Walter Thompson, Detroit].
Michael Mark, creative director/CEO, NYCA, Encinitas, Calif.
The bar was raised nicely. There were more good spots this year than last. Funny money sells hard in the brilliant, hard working ads from Ameriquest Mortgage. Just think–a mortgage company telling us they will give us a second chance if we have bad credit. I like that message–relevant to anyone who has the dream of owning a house (all of the 90 million watching, I’m sure can relate)–and I like the way they tell it even more. We are at a party, so money may not be an appropriate subject. But funny money will sell in this environment because it will be talked about. Taste issues are a concern but even though these deal with serious topics like death, money and sex, they win. The commercial of the woman in the airplane who finds herself on the man’s lap looks like they might have had some 350,000 mile club action, and the commercial about the patient who looks he died on the operating table (the poor kid thinks she lost her daddy) showed great comic timing and twists . This will work for them in the marketplace. Sign me up.
There were good loud jokes like Ameriquest and FedEx, but there were also quieter spots that were quite effective. I liked the ESPN Mobile ad that was quiet, about a guy walking along and keeping to himself even though he’s surrounded by a cast of seemingly thousands.
Dove was quiet, yet had a positive message. It speaks to all of us This isn’t about girls, this is about a positive self-reflection. And it is wonderful to see–even if you think the audience is a bunch of meat-chewing, beer-swillin’ Neanderthals. Even they will be melted by the girls’ beautiful open faces. Signed off by Dove for their Self-Esteem Fund, it was a great way to close the commercial. The site will be crowded by men, women, girls and boys all relating to the call. Now let me open up — this spot just got me, I guess. I’m frigging jealous (need to use the word “frigging” to make sure I haven’t lost my inner man)! Boys can use some of that self- esteem too! Especially after the girls beating us up in the Michelob spot and the Bud Light spots make guys look like stupid lazy losers. Reminded me of Nike’s “If you let me play” spot, which was a vision for all of us to follow—not just girls! This spot has a big heart and is Super Bowl worthy–now is the Bowl worthy of it? What is the Self-Esteem Fund? I wanted to know. Where does the money go? Like I said, people will go to the site and learn.
That’s part of the surrounding campaign approach–going to a Web site for more, or getting more from another outlet. It’s not as much about the single Super Bowl knockout punch delivered by an Apple in “1984” or Mean Joe Greene for Coke. Look at Burger King this year [directed by Bryan Buckley of bicoastal/international Hungry Man for Crispin Porter+Bogusky, Miami]–is it a Busby Berkeley musical or a hungry adolescent’s moist dream? But there’s an afterlife to the spot–Meet the Whopperettes was sent out to my Sprint cell phone. BK may finally get men to eat their veggies.
Alan Pafenbach, creative consultant (former managing partner/executive creative director, Arnold Worldwide, Boston)
An ad that would be really great in the normal broadcast world disappears in the noise of the Super Bowl. People expect so much more. As a creative director, you look for a visceral reaction to a spot along with accomplishing the objective in the brief of the original assignment. There were a lot of commercials in the game that were great entertainment, but I’m not sure they were effective as advertising.
With the caveat that there’s what ad people like and what real people like, I made a list of the spots I thought were effective and entertaining. My favorite was the FedEx spot. The production, the effects, the casting. What I like about their advertising generally is that it’s a straight A-to-B idea. It’s about what FedEx does and in this case the storyline was funny and got your attention.
I also liked the two Sprint ads [directed by Hungry Man’s Buckley for TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York]–the silliness of the one in the locker room, and then the one where the couch is on fire and the storyline erupts into a scene from The Benny Hill Show. I laughed the most at the Benny Hill piece, though I’m not sure how many people know who Benny Hill was.
On a different track, the Disney World spots were quite good–getting genuine performances from the athletes, including the Steelers quarterback. They [directed by Joe Pytka of PYTKA, Venice, Calif., for Leo Burnett USA, Chicago] were good takes on a pretty standard yearly thing–winning players saying they’re going to Disney World.
The Dove ad also worked. The message was positive and the writing was good.
The Sierra Mist commercial with Kathy Griffin in the airport was also straightforward and funny [“Wand” directed by Partizan’s Traktor for BBDO New York]. I also liked the humor of Budweiser’s “Magic Fridge” [directed by Dave McNally of bicoastal Villains for DDB Chicago] and Crispin’s spot for Burger King. Overall, the crop of ads this year was better than last.
Mike Wolfsohn, VP/creative director, Ignited Minds, Marina del Rey, Calif.
I have to admit that I’m a lifelong Steelers fan. The way the game was going at a given point in time affected my viewing state–But clearly Super Bowl advertisers and agencies expose themselves to a level of scrutiny that goes beyond normal viewing conditions, where people subconsciously see or absorb commercials. For the Super Bowl, people consciously view the work.
Generally I found that the spots that tried too hard didn’t work. There are certain ingredients that people think go into a Super Bowl spot; they throw those ingredients into the work and try to get attention. The ones that try too hard were really noticeable.
By contrast, those with simple self-confidence that didn’t count on humor or special effects were effective.
I very much wanted to like what I saw on the Super Bowl. But I found it hard to find work I would be proud to have done. Three pieces did that for me.
The Disney World spots, in which Steelers and Seahawks give their take on the “I’m going to Disney World” line, was a great simple idea, with perfect media placement, perfect use of players, and great performances from those players. The brand was a star among these stars. The agency hit on the equity that has become part of the culture–going to Disney World.
Another I liked was the Mastercard “MacGyver” spot–a smart way to keep a campaign fresh that’s over a decade old. It was like the cartoon execution of a few years ago that injected new life into the work. The brand, like the campaign, is consistent, reliable, you know what to expect–pretty important qualities for a credit card. The attributes of advertising are ultimately going to be projected upon the advertiser and that consistency is what’s great about his campaign. MacGyver offers a nice twist on this.
The third was the Hummer “Monsters” spot, even though it debuted long before the Super Bowl–It separates Hummer from the rest of the SUV pack–it doesn’t need to play in the testosterone-filled world of macho competitors.
At the other end, the usual offerings from Bud Light were disappointing–It reminds me of the guy at a party trying hard to make everybody laugh but ultimately just embarrassing himself.
The Dove ad tries to get people to contribute money to a fund for girls’ self-esteem. Why not put the $2.5 million you paid for the ad time into the fund. That’s how I felt watching that spot. They spent the money to improve their own self-image, not the self-image of the girls being portrayed. I’d prefer they just promote the product and spare us the philanthropic angle.