As an avid sports fan and an advertising guy, Super Bowl Sunday is probably my favorite day of the year. I get to experience the best of both worlds, a great game between the top two football teams and the highest echelon of television commercials.
Unless you’re a Seattle Seahawks fan, the football aspect of Super Bowl XLVIII wasn’t too exciting. It was a blowout from the start and wasn’t very interesting. I’m assuming you hoped to find solace with some great advertising spots. And unfortunately, the commercials were just as much of a buzzkill as the game.
This has been a trend in recent years. The commercials on the past few Super Bowl Sundays have been disappointing to say the least. While there have been a couple bright spots like Chrysler’s "Halftime in America" and Dodge’s "Farmer," the overall quality of ads hasn’t lived up to the hype. And it’s quite a shame.
There is certain criterion that makes a Super Bowl ad great. It needs to be something totally original, unique, and display out-of-the-box thinking. It needs to inspire people and make them excited about the brand. And most importantly, a great Super Bowl ad needs to be something that everyone will always remember. Quite frankly, we did not get any great ads last night.
Now don’t get me wrong, not every spot last night was bad. I enjoyed spots from Wonderful Pistachios (see below), Heinz Ketchup, CarMax, and believe it or not, GoDaddy. But these ads were good for a snowy Monday afternoon in February, not for the greatness that is Super Bowl Sunday. Maybe I’m just a harsh critic, but most of the ads seemed to lack originality and were mundane and predictable.
So in the end, I would say there was no winner of the Brand Bowl because there wasn’t a truly great ad. Nothing blew me away, which is what I expect from every Super Bowl spot. If you held a gun to my head and forced me to pick a winner, I’d probably say Stephen Colbert stole the show with Wonderful Pistachios. It started out as a bust with Part 1, and then Part 2 came in to save the spot. Colbert was pretty funny and I loved seeing an eagle in a vest and tie. But in all honesty, the spots would’ve been more stellar if they aired last Sunday during the Grammy Awards.
Unless you’re a Seattle Seahawks fan, the football aspect of Super Bowl XLVIII wasn’t too exciting. It was a blowout from the start and wasn’t very interesting. I’m assuming you hoped to find solace with some great advertising spots. And unfortunately, the commercials were just as much of a buzzkill as the game.
This has been a trend in recent years. The commercials on the past few Super Bowl Sundays have been disappointing to say the least. While there have been a couple bright spots like Chrysler’s "Halftime in America" and Dodge’s "Farmer," the overall quality of ads hasn’t lived up to the hype. And it’s quite a shame.
There is certain criterion that makes a Super Bowl ad great. It needs to be something totally original, unique, and display out-of-the-box thinking. It needs to inspire people and make them excited about the brand. And most importantly, a great Super Bowl ad needs to be something that everyone will always remember. Quite frankly, we did not get any great ads last night.
Now don’t get me wrong, not every spot last night was bad. I enjoyed spots from Wonderful Pistachios (see below), Heinz Ketchup, CarMax, and believe it or not, GoDaddy. But these ads were good for a snowy Monday afternoon in February, not for the greatness that is Super Bowl Sunday. Maybe I’m just a harsh critic, but most of the ads seemed to lack originality and were mundane and predictable.
So in the end, I would say there was no winner of the Brand Bowl because there wasn’t a truly great ad. Nothing blew me away, which is what I expect from every Super Bowl spot. If you held a gun to my head and forced me to pick a winner, I’d probably say Stephen Colbert stole the show with Wonderful Pistachios. It started out as a bust with Part 1, and then Part 2 came in to save the spot. Colbert was pretty funny and I loved seeing an eagle in a vest and tie. But in all honesty, the spots would’ve been more stellar if they aired last Sunday during the Grammy Awards.
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Hopefully, we’ll see an improvement next year. Let’s pray the football game is more captivating and entertaining. And for advertising’s sake, let’s pray the spots are original, awe-striking, enthralling, and the best commercials we’ve ever seen in one night. If I have to put up with another Budweiser Clydesdale being sad about losing a friend, I might lose my mind.
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