With two huge-market teams facing off in this year’s Super Bowl, odds were that you had a rooting interest in yesterday’s championship game. Being an Eagles fan, I, however, did not. Fortunately, that left plenty of time for me to root for the advertising industry!
By my unofficial tally, a quarter of all ads this year were for car companies. Food/drink products were featured in roughly 20 percent of ads and consumer products took up about 16 percent of all ads. Online services (such as Hulu, Cars.com and Go Daddy, which kind of counts) came it at only 8 percent. Please note that these stats don't take into account the 6,198 ads that NBC ran for its new show, Smash.
Notable Successes and Failures
Honda stole the show with its spot for the CRV, which featured Matthew Broderick reprising his role from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. If you haven't already, check out the full version online. Honda plays into one of the strongest of all feelings - nostalgia - with a spot that any Ferris Bueller fan can't help but watch with a permanent smile on their face. It’s the same feeling on which VW rose to fame with their mini-Vader spot.
For sheer laughs, E*Trade's baby was the biggest hit, at least for the Super Bowl party I attended. (Note: CJP represents E*Trade and this ad campaign, and I fully realize that this looks like a shameless plug for our client. But honestly, I call ‘em like I see ‘em, and from what I saw, this ad got the biggest laughs of the night!)
Honorable mention goes to Pepsi's ad, which featured a star-studded roster (capped by Elton John) that fell short and had viewers waiting for a punch line for a grueling full minute of airtime. However, in the last 4 seconds of the spot, Flava Flav makes an unexplainable appearance to shout his trademark “Yeah, boooooooy!” phrase. And you know what? It somehow works. Kudos to Pepsi for avoiding what could have been a train wreck.
(MUCH MORE AFTER THE JUMP)
