Tag Archives: Super Bowl

Platinum or Gold?

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There’s no question that Budweiser left an impression with their “Brotherhood” Clydesdale commercial. Twitter was abuzz? with admiration for the unbreakable bond of a horse and it’s “brother.” But what about the other Budweiser commercial? The one where they announced their brand extension, “Budweiser Black Crown.” The commercial claimed to be made for the “finest” of our society by stating the beer is made from the finest ingredients and having a glamorous crowd call it their own.

It’s not uncommon to announce a new product or brand extension at the Super Bowl, in fact just last year Bud Light released “Bud Light Platinum.” This commercial claimed to be a step up from the regular Bud Light brew by striving for platinum, not gold.

Two similar brands announced similar brand extensions. Budweiser decided to appeal to the elitist in all of us, Bud Light chose to approach our more ambitious side. The clean, crisp factory setting of the Bud Light factory versus the rustic romantic setting of the Budweiser celebration.

It seemed to us that Bud Light took a bigger risk by ditching the typical crowd voicing their approval and choosing a stark white background to contrast the vibrant blue bottle. In this case, we think the risk paid off. Which commercial do you prefer?

- Zach Abramo, Callie Fenlon, Lauren Habig,  Alexandra Huss, Michael Nunes, Daniel Schaefer, Dann Williams

The Old and The Reckless

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The commercials from last Sunday’s Super Bowl have been flooding social media sites as they get passed around by friends. The Taco Bell “Viva Young” commercial has been  particularly popular with over two million views on YouTube. The commercial starts with a nurse at a retirement home putting an older man to bed. Then the old man sneaks off with friends to acquire the life of the young and, of course, “Fourth Meal” at Taco Bell.  This unusual group of pranksters are seen pool hopping, lighting firecrackers and even getting down in the clubs. The group building up a hunger ends their night at the Taco Bell Parking lot, and walking back to the retirement home as the sun rises. The song “We Are Young” by Fun, is played in Spanish (of course)to maintain brand continuity. Interestingly, that particular song became popular during last year’s Super Bowl; when it appeared in a Chevy commercial.

While watching the game, a friend said “talking babies and crazy old people always make the best commercials”. It is interesting to me that the most entertaining commercials are based on events that do not happen often (or at all!) The concept of “old folks” having partying hard and reliving their youth is entertaining and hilarious. This idea has been used before; the artist Modestep released a music video for their song “Sunlight”. This video was posted on YouTube on July 3, 2011 and has over twenty-two million views. The Modestep video has the same idea as the commercial but is not censored by the FCC. The Taco Bell commercial is a “clean” version of this music video as much of the material is not suitable for U.S. television. It Is remarkable to see music culture influencing the types of commercials we see.

The stylistic features of the commercial and music video are similar. Certain aspects, such as the shot angle and exposures, are close to the same. The idea of the older people going crazy and partying hard that Taco Bell portrays take you by surprise, particularly while considering that most of the commercials promoting their unique concept of “Fourth Meal” have been targeted to their younger consumers (who are more likely to be up late). This commercial appears to actively debunk the stereotype that elderly people are typically in bed by nine. It is interesting to see the commercial feature a group of people who may or may not consume Taco Bell given the primary target audience of most Super Bowl ads. Is this an opportunity for Taco Bell to expand to more mature (or not-so-mature) markets or just another opportunity to entertain the younger population at the expense of the older one? Regardless it is a reminder to “Live Mas” and while doing so, fill your hunger with Taco Bell.

- Zach Abramo, Callie Fenlon, Lauren Habig,  Alexandra Huss, Michael Nunes, Daniel Schaefer, Dann Williams

What’s the Real Show?

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During a regulation NFL game there is a 15 minute break between the 2nd and 3rd quarters. This halftime break was originally instituted so the participants of the game could catch their breath and re-energize. During the Super Bowl, halftime lasts for a minimum of 30 minutes. Not only is that plenty of time for a player to catch his breath, that could allow him an opportunity to take a nap and check some emails. The mid-game break is actually long enough that coaches usually alter practices leading up to the big game in order to prepare their players for dealing with the extended down time. Despite this, there has never been a serious motion to shorten the length of the break. On the contrary, every few years halftime will run a little long to better accommodate the length of more extravagant halftime shows.

This presents an interesting phenomenon. The Super Bowl, the game that decides who the best team is in the highest level of the most popular sport in America, is consistently interrupted for at least 15 minutes more than is necessary so an assortment of washed up and unknown artists can perform for a crowd that has paid at least double the average monthly income for a ticket to the game. It is widely known that companies spend millions of dollars for a chance to slip a commercial in between the biggest football game of the year, but this event has become so large that the game itself is being postponed in order to make room for the event that surrounds it. That’s the kind of marketing that is normally reserved for religious holidays and national celebrations.

So what makes the Super Bowl half-time show so special? It is the second most anticipated part of the event, besides of course, who wins the championship.  The hype of who is performing is always a boost for the performers publicity, but what if Madonna blows it like the Black Eyed Peas did last year?  What will that do to her brand as being Madonna, the Queen of pop? There is a lot at stake when involving yourself in the biggest event of the year.  Let’s just hope there are no wardrobe malfunctions or fumbled lyrics this year.

Read more about the halftime show here!

Broderick gets another day off thanks to Honda

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Honda just released an extended Honda CR-V commercial featuring Matthew Broderick on YouTube. The ad makes dozens of references to what could possibly be one of the greatest movies of all time, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. It doesn’t even matter whether you were around when this movie was released, every generation recognizes and can relate to this legendary movie. The Honda CR-V might not be a Ferrari but you have to grow up at some point, right?

It starts off with Broderick calling in sick from a L.A. hotel room. The hotel valet brings around his Honda CR-V, calling out “Broderick….Broderick” instead of economic teacher Ben Stein droning “Bueller…..Bueller.” Broderick is also seen in the stands for a horse race instead of a chicago mets game. He visits the Natural History Museum instead of the Chicago Art Museum. He even ends up in another parade only in China town singing a Mandarin tune rather than Twist & Shout or “Danke Schoen” for the German- American Von Steuben Day parade. Throughout the whole clip you will easily be able to pick out the infamous quotes used in the original movie, ending with “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once and a while, you’d miss it” as the valet drives off in the CR-V.

Every 80′s movie geek will be able to appreciate the many other movie references they made during this 2 and 1/2 minute long commercial. Honda promises fans there are more than two dozen references to the movie. They are encouraging people to tweet their friends about it and tweet what they have spotted under the hashtag #dayoff. This commercial will run during the Super Bowl for a 60 second slot, which should be costing them around seven million dollars! Thanks to social media outlets like YouTube, we get an extended version to enjoy the throwback even longer. Using a movie as iconic as Ferris Bueller was a smart marketing trick by using something that resonates with millions of viewers and linking it with the new Honda CR-V.

-Mollie Berthold, Dorothy Conley, Laura Simmons, Christina Stevenson

Will The Force Be With You?

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      It’s Super Bowl season and we, as viewers, are ready for the stream of entertaining advertisements that keep us occupied between breaks. I’m sure everyone remembers last years buzz worthy Star Wars inspired Volkswagen commercial. How can one not be enamored with a little boy in a movie quality Darth Vader suit that genuinely startles himself by using “the force” to turn on his dad’s new Volkswagen? Beyond all the cuteness, the commercial relays the push-to-start feature that the affordable (and apparently fun) German car has to offer.
     To top its success from the last Super Bowl, Volkswagen has returned with yet another Star Wars inspired ad and the entertainment factor is undeniable. Yet what do barking dogs and Star Wars really have to do with the German automobile company?
     Advertisers take full advantage of the hype surrounding the Super Bowl to create innovative, touching, and entertaining commercials. Companies will pay extraordinary amounts of money to ensure that their commercial is seen by the millions of viewers watching the game. After all, this one time of the year advertisers can assume that almost every single American is tuning in. What company wouldn’t want their product showcased at this time? It’s like a black Friday Christmas sale for advertisers. These companies want to bring attention to their product in anyway possible, even if that means their product isn’t even mentioned until the last three seconds.
     In the Volkswagen ad, the viewer is unaware of the association between Volkswagen and Star Wars until the very end. This proved to be a very strategic move on VW’s part. Last year, companies were able to monitor which commercials made the biggest impact on viewers via Twitter, FaceBook and other popular social platforms. They measured the ad’s success by the number of times it was mentioned in the digital realm and were able to realize what struck a chord with the vast audience. What once seemed to be a hail marry concept of integrating marketing, advertising, and social media, is now an easy field goal for the IMC commercial championship. Volkswagen is betting that we will remember how fond we were of last year’s Star Wars theme and associate those same feelings with their brand this year as well. You can’t go wrong with puppies and kids, right?
-Alexis Kapczynski, Kacy Cox, Sara Kaloudis, Josh Bowman

Price Tag on a Super Bowl Ticket? Not for these fans.

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It seems fans whose plans were altered by seating issues at this years Super Bowl have filed a lawsuit against the NFL. Go figure. The lawsuit also targets specifically the Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones and alleges a breach of contract, fraud, and deceptive sales practices. The massive group of fans, as many as a thousand people, are pushing for a collective gain up to $5 million from the NFL. While some of these fans pushing for the lawsuit are legit (400 fans did not even get a seat for the game), others seem to be coming off as a bit forced such as season-ticket holders who weren’t aware that they would be in “temporary seats”.

Perhaps the NFL’s biggest problem stemmed from an inadequate offer that would have given the displaced fans $2,400 and even a ticket to next year’s Super Bowl, airfare and hotel included. But clearly this just is not good enough for these fans who felt gipped out of their paid-for seats. Apparently the NFL should have made these fans an offer they couldn’t refuse, at least up front, and now they will really have to pay for it. Clearly, the NFL cannot afford to get into a legal battle with these angry fans as it would lead to nothing more than a public relations disaster and a huge blow to the brand. It is no secret now that the league is to blame for the seating fiasco. So now in order to evade future damage to sales efforts and brand integrity and credibility, the NFL needs to do whatever it now takes to keep its faithful customers.

Apparently there is no price tag on a Super Bowl ticket for these fans and they show no signs of dropping the issue. It seems at this point, the main hope for the NFL is that this story gets out of the media as fast as possible, and without further damage to the brand and future marketing and sales efforts and profits.

-Eric Holtzman, Chad Graves, Ryan Kelley, Maxann Keller, Katelyn Truss

Super Bowl Mixed With Red and Pink Flowers?

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Super Bowl XLV had 111 million viewers throughout the entire game, but it doesn’t stop there.  “A record-breaking 169.2 million people tuned in to the program for at least a portion of the game” according to Fox News.  With this many people, and a majority of the audience being male, what else could be better than reminding men about Valentine’s Day?  The game is played a week before V-day, still allowing the men with crushes, significant others, and spouses to order flowers and various other red and pink gifts.

The Super Bowl submerges men into drinking beer with their buddies, talking about football and, thanks to Go-Daddy commercials, hot chicks.  Teleflora was able to combine all these aspects into an effective, realistic and catchy commercial.  Speaking on behalf of the female population, men are stereotyped into not knowing how to express their feelings, especially around Saint Valentine’s Day.  In the commercial, the guy expresses his feelings for Kim in a not-so-romantic way; “your rack is unreal” doesn’t really scream romance.

Teleflora’s effectiveness of this commercial is outstanding.  Targeting men and illustrating a guys perspective on Valentine’s Day and translating that into the beauty of flowers is what the overall audience of the Super Bowl will enjoy.  Comical, yet true, this commercial and Teleflora as a company, will be remembered.

-Lauren DeHart