Softer Super Bowl ads
The Super Bowl, like many major sporting events, has long had the capacity to make grown men cry. But this year, the guys may be dabbing their eyes for a different reason — not that they’d admit it.
Sentiment is expected to overtake sexism in commercials during Sunday’s game, with spots that deploy everything from puppies to pregnancy to tug on audience heartstrings. Experts say the gender-inclusive commercials are a nod to the fact more than four in 10 Super Bowl viewers are women, and that sex may not sell the way it used to.
“We’re seeing a shift this year,” said Tandy Thomas, assistant professor of marketing at Queen’s University. “You’re not going to get away with just putting a pretty girl next to a sports car anymore.” This bears out in pre-game traffic on YouTube, where the most-viewed Super Bowl spot thus far is a tear-jerker from Budweiser depicting the forbidden friendship between a puppy and a Clydesdale. Axe is also scoring big with its “Make Love, Not War” ad, in which the brand trades its signature machismo for a softer, dare we say romantic, approach.
Even GoDaddy, long linked to racy Super Bowl ads, is toning down the sex in favour of a commercial described as depicting women as “smart, successful smallbusiness owners.”
According to Nielsen, women make up 46 per cent of the Super Bowl’s audience, while Brandwatch reports that females out-tweet males by 60 per cent — a finding that accrues significant meaning in light of the fact nearly 30 per cent of last year’s 20.9 million gamerelated tweets were about the commercials.
In Canada, 2013 research by University of Lethbridge sociologist Reginald Bibby and pollster Angus Reid found that female football fans, despite gains, are still the minority: 10 per cent follow the NFL closely (up from four per cent in 1990), versus 31 per cent of males. But come the Super Bowl, sheer spectacle draws them in.
“In 2012, the record Canadian viewing audience of 8.2 million for the game was outdistanced by the 10.3 million who caught Madonna’s halftime show,” said Bibby, noting that gender data on the sport’s following suggests this temporary boost in Super Bowl viewership was led by women.
“It’s one of the unique times when both sexes actually watch a football game — or sort of watch a football game — together.”
Certainly, this helps explain the family-centric tack being taken by a number of 2014 advertisers. Cheerios’ “Gracie” commercial portrays a father’s chat with his daughter about the fact she’ll soon be a big sister, while Toyota enlists the Muppets to pitch its new Highlander.
Branding expert Andris Pone, however, remains skeptical of a sea change.
“Sex still sells ... ,” said Pone, president of Coin Branding in Toronto. “One year does not a trend make …”
What we do know is that Canadians will be following the commercials. A Google survey in December found more people will watch the ads online (one in three) than the game itself (one in four), while fully half of viewers who like a Super Bowl ad will share it with friends.
That said, if you see Steph Mackie at the pub this Sunday, know that the 25-yearold is more interested in a victory on the field than a gender-related advertising victory off it. “I’m a huge, huge, Broncos fan. Obsessed,” said Mackie, who plays football for the Edmonton Storm. “But even when my team isn’t playing, it’s about going out and watching a really good game.”