Do Super Bowl ads stand test of time?
A look back at how last year’s commercials grabbed attention
NEW YORK — In the world of advertising, any publicity can be good publicity. And there’s no bigger stage in advertising than the Super Bowl.
Companies spend millions to create Super Bowl ads that they hope will have people gabbing around the water cooler. This year, dozens of big companies from Pepsi to Chobani are spending an estimated $4 million for a 30-second spot during Super Bowl XLVIII on Sunday.
But they can take lessons from some of the most talked-about game-day ads last year:
Dunk in the dark
Last year’s Super Bowl taught advertisers the power of a good defence. One of the most memorable Super Bowl ads was a spur-of-the moment social media post by Oreo that went viral.
When a blackout hit the stadium early in the third quarter last year, Oreo was prepared to create instant social media content because the cookie maker and its digital agency 360i had been working on a campaign for Oreo’s 100th anniversary. The campaign featured a different ad every day that responds to news events for 100 days.
About 10 people at a 360i’s social media command centre in New York immediately huddled with others on the phone. Ten minutes later, the ad was out on Twitter and Facebook. It featured an image of an Oreo in partial darkness and the tag line “You can still dunk in the dark.”
In the first hour, the ad had more than 10,000 retweets on Twitter and 18,000 likes and 5,000 shares on Facebook.
Clydes dale appeal
Some Super Bowl themes never seem to grow old for viewers, as Anheuser-Busch learned last year.
The beer maker last year depicted a Clydesdale growing up with his trainer and then recognizing him years later during a parade in Chicago. Fleetwood Mac’s ballad Landslide played in the background.
One problem: The company had to wait for a baby Clydesdale to be born after the ad was conceived the summer before.
The company has a horse farm near St. Louis, Mo., where it keeps about 50 Clydesdales. Two mares were in the final stages of a mare’s 11.5-month pregnancy at the appropriate time, but they weren’t sure which Clydesdale would be born first.
VW goes reggae
Sometimes ads are better known for their controversy. Take Volkswagen’s Get Happy for the VW Passat Super Bowl last year.
The company’s ad last year depicts the life of a white middle American office employee who is so happy he drives a Passat that he starts speaking in a Jamaican accent, much to the consternation of his co-workers.
The company was surprised when it generated a flurry of controversy. Some people said it bordered on racist because it portrayed the Jamaican accent as a caricature.
The furor was quelled, however, by the Jamaican tourism board and Jamaicans themselves.