What Would Cameron Think? Broderick Channels Ferris Bueller For Honda SB Ad

Honda's Super Bowl ad will feature actor Matthew Broderick reviving the title role from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and the spot is "going to mimic much of the original film, except this time prominently featuring Hondas," according to a source cited by Matt Hardigree of JALOPNIK.com. The "big jump the two valets do in Cameron's dad's Ferrari" from the movie will feature a Honda CR-V in the commercial. The source said that Honda is "pouring a lot of money into this ad," as "The Hangover" director Todd Phillips was hired to "put it all together" (JALOPNIK.com, 1/27). The GLOBE & MAIL’s Susan Krashinsky notes a 10-second teaser was uploaded to YouTube Thursday featuring Broderick “in a bathrobe, undoubtedly playing a grown-up Bueller.” The Super Bowl date “then appears on the screen.” Krashinsky writes of all the ad teasers to date, it is the "most enigmatic: it is not linked to any corporate YouTube account and does not specify the product.” However, the spot "could end up being the most-talked-about ad of the Super Bowl” if it is a take off of "Ferris Bueller" (GLOBE & MAIL, 1/27).

EARLY RELEASE: Audi Thursday announced that its 60-second spot set to air in the first break after kick-off is live on the automaker’s YouTube channel. In the spot, the new ’13 Audi S7 arrives at a vampire party in the woods and brings with it an unexpected surprise. The ad was created by Venables Bell & Partners, S.F. (Audi).

THIS MEANS WAR: The GLOBE & MAIL’s Krashinsky writes the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl “are a period of war,” and the fight “is playing out on consumers’ laptops and tables, as well as their television screens.” GM Monday “took to Google to buy up some strange search terms -- ‘barking dogs,’ for example -- so that when people search for VW’s bit of canine comedy, GM’s ads will also appear.” GM Dir of Advertising & Sales Promotion Kevin Mayer said, “The digital gamemanship within this, is where I think the Super Bowl can be won and lost" for advertisers. Krashinsky writes in case its ad "doesn’t generate the buzz Kia is hoping for, they too are prepared to take to the Web to steal another brand’s thunder.” VW GM of Brand Marketing Brian Thomas said that they “watched their competitors ‘drafting’ last year, and have been preparing their search strategy, buying key terms both leading up to the game and during the game that are related to their spot.” GM is taking its online battle “a step further this year: In addition to bidding on keywords, it has designed a number of online banner ads featuring actor Rainn Wilson of ‘The Office,’ intended to draw eyes away from competitors’ ads.” It will place those displays “alongside other companies’ ads online, on YouTube and other sites.” Wilson will “point down at the rival ad on screen, mocking the theme and inviting the viewer to click through to see GM’s ad” (GLOBE & MAIL, 1/27).