We’ve discussed already the theory of Super Bowl commercials and the ways in which social media has changed Super Bowl advertising, but how did the aired commercials actually do?
Super Bowl ad reviews might just be the next great American growth industry. AdAge has helpfully collected eleven published responses, both within the ad industry–from tracking companies as diverse as TiVo and HCD Research–and from popular media outlets such as The New York Times and USA Today. Snickers and Doritos both turned up as highly-ranked ads in these subjective rankings.
Mashable, as was to be expected, took a more analytic approach, collecting data from Hulu to measure the most viewed, the most liked, and the most disliked ads (Motorola’s “Megan Fox photo,” Doritos’ “House Rules,” and Focus on the Family’s “Tim Tebow,” respectively). Mashable also does a nice job of bringing together those services which tracked social media mentions, with Focus on the Family, Doritos, and Anheuser-Busch coming up in first place according to the different methodologies.
Many reviewers have sought to identify trends in the ads. Let’s take a look at a few.
Stuart Elliot, the ad columnist for The New York Times, managed to identify at least three. (It was a busy weekend for Elliot, as he produced several columns and a live-blog.)
Here’s Elliot on the rise of user-generated ads:
Among those commercials consistently deemed most effective, memorable and talked-about, many were created or suggested by consumers — or produced internally by the sponsors — rather than the work of agency professionals.
[snip]
For instance, the two Doritos commercials were among the most-watched among all the spots in households with TiVo digital video recorders. The commercial called “House Rules” finished first and the commercial called “Underdog” came in fourth.
“The answer is not that everyone should fire their agencies and have users create campaigns,” said Todd Juenger, vice president and general manager for TiVo audience research and measurement. Rather, he added, consumers seem to know best what other consumers will like to watch in the “unique” ad environment of the Super Bowl.
Here’s Elliot, again, now focusing on the importance of nostalgia in this year’s batch:
Nostalgia is a critical component of the pitches from sponsors on Super Bowl Sunday. After all, the best way to appeal to a mass audience of 100 million or so Americans is usually to fill spots with paeans to the past along with catchy music, stars, special effects, talking babies and endearing animals.
Even so, the salutes on Sunday to bygone eras reached a peak perhaps not seen since the last time Fonzie said “Ayyyy” on “Happy Days.” The reason is, of course, the economy and the belief along Madison Avenue that tough times call for familiarity rather than risks.
And, once more, here’s Elliot on the possibly misogynistic streak in evidence during the Super Bowl ads:
There seems to be a theme in many of the Super Bowl spots: the need to reassure men that they are as manly as they hope they are. That theme recurs in Super Bowl ads because so many of the viewers are men and so many of the products advertised are aimed at them.
For instance, a Dodge spot carried the theme “Man’s last stand” and showed men thinking to themselves about the women in their lives. The thoughts were not of the type to win plaudits from feminists; they were grudging and stereotyped, along the lines of “I will watch your vampire TV shows with you.”
There was a spot for Flo TV showing a man shopping with a woman for women’s clothes. A man observing him was not pleased, admonishing him, “Change out of that skirt, Jason.” A spot for Dockers touched on the theme but more subtly, telling men it is time to “wear the pants” and showing scads of them pantsless.
The overly masculine tone is upsetting many people who are posting comments to blogs about the Super Bowl spots, particularly women, who are decrying those spots as misogynistic.
Here’s Seth Stevenson, writing for Slate, on some additional tropes:
Among the recurring advertising themes I noticed during the big game: animals hot-tubbing with sexy ladies, paunchy dudes wearing tighty-whities, defiant misogyny. Not being a huge fan of bestiality, hairy male thighs, or woman-hating, I must admit I was underwhelmed by this year’s commercial crop.
And, lastly, I recommend Bob Garfield’s seven-minute recap of the year’s three most scrutinized hours of advertising. It’s an entertaining watch–maybe even more entertaining than the commercials themselves, suggested one commenter–but to spill Garfield’s beans, he gave the highest grades to Audi’s Green Police spot, Dodge’s ad highlighting its Charger, and Flo TV’s commercial named “Man’s Last Stand.”
My personal favorite is this understated Google ad:
It might just be me, but I like this spot especially in contrast to the outrageous hard-sells that mark so many other Super Bowl ads, from Bud Light’s desert island to just about everything put out by Doritos.
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