Super Bowl XLV Ads

Quick thoughts on Super Bowl XLV ads:
- The local (Grand Rapids) ads seemed more horrible than usual,
- I don't need to see an ad for a single FOX TV show for the rest of my life,
- Pepsi Max ads could easily be seen as offensive, racist, sexist, abusive, etc.,
- GoDaddy.com seems more like a porn site more than a web hosting company.

In-Depth thoughts:
Bridgestone wins in the funny category for enabling the average person to relate with one of the greatest fears I'm sure the majority of office workers may have from time to time. I'm sure this one will be talked about at the office cooler Monday morning along with a personal story to share.

Motorola's ad caught me off guard. I'm sure millions of people watching the game missed its historical context because all of the people I watched the game did, and some were even Ad/PR majors. In a nutshell, the entire ad was a stab at Apple (and their iPods/iPads) by re-issuing their 1984-themed advertisement used for launching the first Mac computer during the 1984 Super Bowl. I questioned the effectiveness of the ad in terms of reaching the average consumer. Then, I realized their assumed strategy.

Instead trying to make the ad an immediate hit with people, I think they were targeting a very niche market of advertising specialists who understood the significance behind the 1984 Apple stabs. This is why I think that: For days following the Super Bowl, the talk is always about the commercials. During these talks, all of the radio and TV programs bring in an advertising expert to analyze the best ads. Then, Motorola is indirectly relying on those ad experts to explain the detailed meaning behind this ad to make sense to the average consumer. Therefore, their immediate target market with this ad may be the specialist, but in turn, their target market is eventually filtered down to the 'average' consumer. Interesting.

It seemed rather odd for Eminem to be featured in two different commercials for two different companies in two different industries. I LOVED this ad simply because it shined a new light on Detroit that so many people seem to always miss. The TV version was only 30 seconds, but this clip is the full 2 minute ad. I've said it once, and I'll continue to say it: Detroit is going to surprise a lot of people once it re-blooms into an incredible city. It was a masterpiece, and is becoming a blank canvas so that it can be remade into another great, and longer lasting, masterpiece. Mark my words!

Career Builder gets the 'Honorable Mention' in the humor category. It's kinda funny.

Audi earns a plug for doing a good job in effectively communicating their market strategy. I wasn't sure what was happening as I was watching it, but once the tagline came in at the end, it all made sense. If you've seen any of the recent Audi ads in the past couple months, then you'd quickly realize that this one coincides directly with their campaign for redefining luxury.

This VW ad was a fan favorite as well: