CBS' Super Bowl XLVII broadcast on Sunday “will see new ads from Universal, Disney and Paramount before and during the matchup” as Hollywood studios are “preparing trailers for their big-budget releases,” according to Sophie Schillaci of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Universal will “unveil its first trailer” for “The Fast and The Furious 6." Paramount will preview “World War Z” starring Brad Pitt “during the pre-show telecast.” A 30-second trailer for J.J. Abrams' “Star Trek Into Darkness” “will play during the second quarter of the game.” Disney has three films “to promote this weekend, mixing pregame and game coverage" for "Oz the Great and Powerful," "The Lone Ranger" and "Iron Man 3." Fox and Sony have “no plans to air commercials during the game,” and Warner Bros. also is “opting out of the action” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 1/28). DEADLINE.com's Dominic Patten noted The Weinstein Company and Lionsgate studios also have not "purchased any ad time" (DEADLINE.com, 1/28).
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND: AD WEEK's Tim Nudd noted Axe's first-ever Super Bowl ad "features a woman in a skimpy bikini jogging rather bouncily along a beach," and "not surprisingly, she's running toward a geeky dude who plays in a romantic league several divisions below hers." The twist is the "geeky dude is an astronaut." The 30-second spot created by BBH London is "due to air in the third quarter." It "pitches Axe's new Apollo line of products -- thus, the astronaut theme" (ADWEEK.com, 1/28).
COURTING CONTROVERSY? Volkswagen's Super Bowl ad features a white male office worker from Minnesota speaking to co-workers in a Jamaican accent because he is so relaxed driving his VW around town. VW America Exec VP and Chief Product & Marketing Officer Tim Mahoney indicated that the automaker "obviously did our homework to make sure that we weren’t offensive,” including conducting research "to make sure that we weren’t going in a direction that we didn’t want to go." NBC's Natalie Morales notes VW "consulted about 100 Jamaicans, that included a speech coach on the commercial set, to make sure they got the accent and dialogue right.” NBC’s Savannah Guthrie said, “While some people think the ad is funny and effective, others think it is a little bit offensive.” Mediapost.com Editor-at-Large Barbara Lippert said she was “shocked” when she first saw the ad. Lippert: “I said, ‘Didn’t anyone look at this.’ This is so racist. My problem with this is there’s no link to Volkswagen. It’s a German car and they’re showing happy people because they have black accents, and maybe Jamaicans didn’t find it offensive for Jamaican beer or something. But it’s just saying that black people are happy.” NBC’s Matt Lauer took a “completely different view” of the VW ad because he “thought if you buy this car, it puts you in a happy place and what’s happier than the memories we all have of being on beautiful islands on island time.” NBC’s Al Roker said the ad has “that Jar Jar Binks from ‘Star Wars’ kind of effect that it just doesn’t make any sense” ("Today," NBC, 1/28).
YO QUIERO SUPER BOWL AD: Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed appeared on "CBS This Morning” today to discuss his company’s 60-second Super Bowl ad, which is available to view online. CBS’ Gayle King asked if Creed was concerned about diminishing the spot's impact since it is being seen early. Creed said, “We've got 10 million Facebook fans and they're already showing it. I think if you live in a social world, it's all about sharing. What we love to do is to not only share it, but have people share it. I think you're going to find come the game, people are going to go, ‘Shhh, shhh, stop, stop, you got to watch the Taco Bell ad.’” He added, "Taco Bell fans love two things. They love sport. Well, this is obviously the sporting event of the season, probably of the year, and they love music. So what we’ve done with the ad is to combine our love of music in a sporting event and that really brings it all together for us” (“CBS This Morning,” CBS, 1/29).
IS IT WORTH IT? Deutsch Inc. Chair Donny Deutsch appeared on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” last night and noted the cost of a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl sold for close to $4M. Host Jay Leno asked, “Is it worth the cost?” Deutsch: “It’s worth it if you merchandise it right. The advertisers that tease it on the Internet and the ones that do contests, the ones that engage consumers, like Doritos where people make up their own commercials and send them in” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 1/28). ABC’s Linsey Davis YouTube research states that Super Bowl ads "shown before the game get 600% more views, so companies are scrambling to the biggest bang for their bucks.” Davis said advertisers "are trying anything and everything to score big” due to the cost of a 30-second spot, and what “they’re banking on is this year’s winning play will be putting the power into the hands of the viewer.” Davis: “This year is all about interaction and social media.” Ad Week Exec Editor James Cooper said this year’s game “will be the most democratic and social Super Bowl in history." Cooper: "They really want people involved in these ad campaigns because there is so much pressure. This is a gigantic investment and they really want these things to have a long shelf life” (“GMA,” ABC, 1/29).
