Time to Get Over Super Bowl Ads

There was a time in the not so distant past when Super Bowl ads were far more interesting than the game itself. Clearly, that’s no longer true, and it’s not just the more reliably competitive nature of the games that is making the difference. The simple fact is that the heyday of “event” Super Bowl ads has come and gone, and the ads we are seeing during the big game just aren’t as creative, interesting or effective as they once were.

By most accounts, the best ads from Super Bowl 44 were the Snickers ”Betty White”  and Doritos “Bark Collar” spots. Neither of these really did much for me. While the Betty White ad had a certain weird charm, the connection between the message and the product being advertised was strained, at best.  The Doritos ad was a little better in this regard, but also a little cruel in concept. In terms of effectiveness, I suspect the big winners will be Hyundai and Kia. Are you really going to increase your Coca-Cola intake or invest more money in E*Trade because of what you saw last night? Probably not. But if you are a Toyota owner who’s a teensy bit apprehensive about the recent developments with that company’s products, and saw the nicely produced ads featuring the stylish new Sonata or Sorento… well, it certainly puts an idea in your mind, doesn’t it.

Perhaps the most anticipated ad of the evening was the Tim Tebow Focus on the Family spot. It turned out to be the most benign “controversial” ad in the history of television; a mother saying she loved her son and was glad he’s alive, and a son saying he loves his mother. Wow, that’s risky stuff. I heard this afternoon that NOW was protesting the ad because it condoned violence against women. (Tim playfully tackles his mom during the spot.) Well, I suppose you can find a nut or two out there with just about any opinion, but if there are three people in this country who legitimately believe that, I’d be very surprised.

Of course, it would be unfair to discuss the ads that aired last night without discussing the ad that didn’t air last night, the one for gay dating site ManCrunch.com. Before anyone starts bemoaning how unfair CBS was in rejecting this ad, let’s have a little perspective check. I would venture to say that six weeks ago no one had ever heard of ManCrunch.com. At last count, more than 40,000 people had viewed the “banned” commercial on YouTube and millions more have heard the site mentioned on radio and television reports. No, I’d say ManCrunch.com got a pretty good return on the $5,000 or so they spent producing their commercial. In fact, if I wanted to cynical, I might suggest that they purposely created a commercial they knew would CBS would reject. And let’s be honest, if CBS hadn’t nixed it, the NFL would have. If ManCrunch.com really wanted their commercial to run, all they had to do was make it look like the Tim Tebow spot. I honestly don’t think CBS would have had a problem with that.

My three favorite commercials from last might’s Super Bowl:

1. E*Trade “Milkaholic” Girlfriend Chat. Love the part at the end when the “other woman” pokes her head in and says, “milk-a-what?”

2. Bridgestone Orca Bachelor Party. Kind of absurd, but at least it has you asking, “what’s this all about?”

3. Bud Light Asteroid Threat. Stupid really, but it had Dr. Marvin Candle from Lost, so I’m okay with it.

John B. Marek