Those Super Bowl commercials

Okay, maybe I overstated it with “sole purpose”. But what is the most important point of an advertisement?

I understand the running of a regular show. It’s that show running on FoxSports.com that seems odd. I’ve watched the Super Bowl online other years, and they never did that. Either it just cut out at that point, or they went on to other sports stuff.

Depends on the ad, and the advertiser’s objective. Sometimes it’s to build awareness of a new brand or product or flavor, sometimes it’s to announce a limited-time promotion, sometimes it’s just to remind people that the brand is out there, etc.

But, regardless of the primary purpose of the ad, I agree with you (and agreed with you on my previous post) in that, if the ad isn’t doing a good job of making it clear who it’s for, it’s likely not effective, and thus, it’s not a well-made ad.

Apologies; it wasn’t clear to me that you were watching the online stream.

An example for me would be that one they repeated that was clearly a shopping app. I remember that the name is 4 letters long and two syllables, and starts with an R. But it also only shows up at the end of the ad and seems to have no connection with what it does, so I forgot it, remembering it wrong all 3-4 times it came on.

Plus, you may not have ever heard of that app before tonight, which doesn’t help, either. I hadn’t heard of it before tonight, I saw the ads, and like you, I can’t now remember the name of it.

Ha! Temu. That’s probably the only one I remember because the app was recently recommended to me by a friend. It’s a Chinese retailer similar to Alibaba. I went to the website and bought a few things. Thinking that this might be the next Amazon I checked into the company’s financials. Parent company is PDD. Stock is trading at between $92 and $104 per share. Too rich for me but I’m keeping an eye on it. Got a feeling it’s going to pop tomorrow morning.

There was that beer commercial that jumped around saying it was a commercial for Coors Light. Then no, it’s for Miller Lite? (I think, can’t remember now). Kept going back and forth, then at the end they say, “No, it’s really a Blue Moon commercial”. I’ve never really seen competing products in the same ad. I wonder if they all went in on it together.

All three brands are owned by the same parent company (Molson Coors).

Ah. That makes more sense.

Yeah, that one was the winner of the set, IMHO. And that isn’t saying much.

The one that we most commented on was the paving company, but not sure if that was national or local.

The one I thought really missed the mark were the Pepsi Zero ads. “Is it real or is it acting?” Well, you’ve just shown me you are a good actor who can convincingly fake emotions so if you say this drink is great, I’m going to think it…isn’t.

Me too. I thought it was a social awareness ad, Black History month or the importance of education and arts or something…and it turned out to be for liquor? I felt vaguely cheated after watching it.

I assumed they were using the Our Product Sucks technique:

Don’t buy our product. No really, don’t. It costs a lot, looks like the back end of a geriatric warthog, guzzles fuel by the gallon, tastes of stale cardboard and will make you look like a fool in front of the ladies. This might well be the worst product ever.

At least, that’s what these people say. Do you agree? Perhaps you should try it for yourself and see what the controversy is about!

The ‘assumption of celebrity’ is what gets me. I guess if they are aiming for a certain segment, then picking and paying a celebrity is a good idea, but, given the fragmentation of society in general, how many people recognize the folks they are spending (presumably) big bucks on?

Example: The Dunkin’ Donuts commercial - first it took me a long time to figure out that was Ben Affleck (I knew he looked familiar but the beard through me - and apparently a lot/some of folks in the actual drive-thru weren’t recognizing him either?). Then J-Lo shows up for a cameo. Cute, but I don’t think either of them are ‘instant recognition’ any more?

T-Mobile with the Scrubs guys, now adding in a bald and bearded John Travolta doing a take off on a 45 year old movie. There’s an old saw that ads are aimed at younger folks - that’s not the demographic that’s going to recognize much of what’s going on there.

I’m old and like both, but I don’t think they were necessarily looking for me.

That Crown Royal ad was amusing, except Dave Grohl is very much not Canadian. Seriously, they couldn’t find a Canadian rock star to put in the thing?

Shoot the dog!

i believe it was the beer they were drinking while dancing. miller possibly?

there was one that was for a streaming service that confused people for the first few minutes. i’m sure some people were searching for the remote.

the rabbit hole one was a bit odd.

i miss the clydesdales.

Not a reference to Larry David being sued as “brand ambassador” for the collapsed crypto trading exchange, in a previous Super Bowl ad?

It seems me to me that Super Bowl ads are like SNL - people always talk about how great the past ones were, but are really only remembering the few that were excellent and ignoring the ones which were meh. I thought the ads were fine. I did really like the Ram Truck Premature Electrification one.