I didn’t watch much of the Super Bowl last night. For the first quarter, I had a 22 month old crawling all over me asking for “skatchies.” That’s back scratches for you that don’t speak toddler.
I spent the second quarter on Twitter watching for reactions to the commercials and then I had to put the four year old to bed.
By this point, I was ready for bed. I didn’t even get to watch Beyonce. I sneezed, coughed and blew my nose through the entire weekend and I needed to crawl into my bed and sleep this sickness away. But I was a tad distraught because I LOVE watching the Super Bowl commercials. I analyze them, watch for others reactions and try to think what it was like to sit around the strategy table while the marketing execs came up with this concept or that concept.
Let’s take Go Daddy for example. Icky, nasty, sexist Go Daddy. Every year we know they are going to do something that women find offensive. Every. Year. This year was no exception. But y’all know they do it on purpose. Because every year it serves its purpose. The ad airs and we all talk about them – over and over. Then the Go Daddy brand name is embedded in our brains and it doesn’t matter if it’s a good or bad connotation. They just want to be known.
Then maybe in a few months, someone wants to buy a domain name. They aren’t sure what to do but then they are reminded that Go Daddy sells domains. They didn’t really care for the ad at all, but they just want that one URL and what will it matter if they buy just one domain. And the cycle continues. Although I’m not sure how they’ll top this year’s kiss heard around the world.
On the opposite end of the spectrum was the Best Buy ad starring Amy Poehler. I thought it was hilarious and served it’s purpose by reminding me of all the great technology that I can purchase at Best Buy. Technology I can purchase without an annoying sales person who just wants a commission shoving it down my throat.
Being a freelancer, I miss the days of sitting around a conference table batting around ideas for campaigns. I swear I could come up with better ideas than some of those commercials last night and for a lot less money!
What was your favorite Super Bowl ad? Least favorite?
Best Buy was my favorite commercial also! Like mother, like daughter? And don’t worry about missing Beyonce. I thought she looked and sounded terrible. Last night, on Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy said he thinks he might have gotten pregnant from watching her half-time show.
I adore Amy and loved the ad you included – I didn’t see that one during the game, I saw the one where she leaves the store wearing the headphones talking really loudly! Marketing gold. Some of the other ads made me sigh knowing a) how much someone got paid for the concept and b) how much they paid for the air time. Sigh.