Super Bowl Ads: EA Forced To Soften Tagline On Videogame Spot

EA Has Had To Soften Tagline Promoting "Dante's Inferno" To Get Clearance From CBS

Electronic Arts will make its Super Bowl advertising debut during Super Bowl XLIV Sunday, but the company "had to soften the tagline" promoting its "Dante's Inferno" videogame "in order to get clearance from CBS," according to Eleftheria Parpis of AD WEEK. EA has been promoting the videogame for the past nine months with a campaign via Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, carrying the tagline, "Go to hell." EA's Super Bowl spot will instead use the line "Hell awaits" after CBS "determined the 'Go to hell' tag was too controversial for the broadcast." Wieden + Kennedy Account Dir Paulo Ribeiro: "It was deemed too provocative. The final verdict has yet to be rendered, but it is unlikely that we will get (it on the game)" (ADWEEK.com, 2/1). AD AGE's Beth Snyder Bulik notes EA "isn't fazed by the censor," but wonders why the company would "buy into a media venue where you can't use your tagline?" EA Senior Product Manager Phil Marineau said, "It's less about the tagline and more about the setting. There will still be a callout to hell. And it's an opportunity to hit the most mass audience possible with a game that's literally coming out two days later" (ADAGE.com, 2/1).

LEADING A HORSE TO WATER: In St. Louis, Todd Frankel reported A-B on Friday posted three commercials on its Budweiser Facebook page, including one Clydesdale spot, giving the public a chance to "offer opinions" on which ad should air during Sunday's Super Bowl. The vote is "not how A-B originally envisioned its Super Bowl ad campaign," but two days after "releasing nine Super Bowl ads, A-B was met by some criticism over its decision to shelve the Clydesdales." Voting is expected to continue into this week, and while the brewer "did not say it was bound by popular opinion, it seemed clear Friday that one ad was ahead." The Clydesdale spot "outpaced by a nearly 3-1 margin the other two ads." A-B reworked the original Clydesdale ad, which "floundered in focus group tests," before posting it for the vote (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/30). A-B InBev VP/Marketing Keith Levy said that the "reconsideration was spontaneous and based on the improvements to the Clydesdales commercial," and is "not a publicity stunt or gimmick" (NYTIMES.com, 1/29).

A SERIOUS ISSUE: BRANDWEEK's Todd Wasserman notes Hyundai's six ads airing around the Super Bowl, including two in-game spots, are "dead serious and quiet." Hyundai VP/Marketing Joel Ewanick said, "It's a very approachable, very aw-shucks presentation. It allows us to be a bit boastful, but it comes across OK because it doesn't sound boastful. It sounds like we're giving out information, and we don't see a reason why we would change that tonality." The automaker has three ads airing "20 or 30 minutes before the game" in addition to first- and second-quarter spots in-game, and Ewanick said, "What's good for us is the prekick and the first two commercials are in a very tight position -- they're only an hour and a half apart. Our goal is to own that automotive story in the first half of the game." Both of the in-game ads will be the first commercial shown during the breaks, and Ewanick said the positioning "gives us a chance to do something a little different than we might have done if we were at the beginning of the pod or the end." Ewanick: "We're going to take the shot at being quiet. We're gonna take you down, and we're gonna tell our story and show the car and make a nice little statement" (BRANDWEEK, 2/1 issue).

Watch The "Green Police" Teaser

NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT: In N.Y., Holly Sanders Ware notes Audi will air a spot for its third-straight Super Bowl with a spot titled "Green Police," showing a "group of officers who protect the environment and tout the firm's so called 'clean diesel' technology." The fourth-quarter spot plays off Cheap Trick's "Dream Police." Audi CMO Scott Keogh said, "We're not retrenching, going backwards or hiding under the table" (N.Y. POST, 2/1).

FLO RIDER: Flo TV today officially announced it will launch its Super Bowl ad campaign with three different spots, featuring a remix of The Who's "My Generation" by will.I.am and appearances by CBS' Jim Nantz and James Brown. The first spot, "Moments," features a compilation of historical events set to "My Generation." The second ad, "Injury Report," features Nantz playing himself while offering play-by-play of a couple on a shopping spree. In addition, Flo TV prior to kickoff will debut a 30-second commercial, "Driven Crazy," that features both Brown and Nantz (Flo TV).

JUST A BLUR: ADWEEK's Andrew McMains reported Motorola's third-quarter spot will feature a "new Motoblur phone that has yet to go on sale." The spot will include an unnamed celebrity. The ad will be the first execution from Motorola's new ad agency, Anomaly, N.Y. (ADWEEK.com, 1/29).