A-B (Again) Takes Top Spot In USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter
Anheuser-Busch for the ninth year in a row won USA Today’s Super Bowl Ad
Meter. USA TODAY’s Bruce Horovitz wrote the winning spot featured a “group
of computer-generated crabs on the beach bowing down at the altar of an ice chest
filled with Budweiser.” The ad aired during the fourth quarter, becoming
the first commercial appearing that late in the broadcast to win the poll. A-B
had four of the five highest-ranking ads, and seven of the top ten. While the
game featured “the usual array of humorous” ads, there also was “surprising
competition from ads that made folks feel warm and fuzzy. But in the end, viewers
wanted to laugh.” A consumer-generated ad for Doritos, which cost $12 to
produce, finished fourth in the rankings. Many marketers “took the low road”
for attention, as Snickers featured an ad with “two men kissing over a candy
bar” and A-B “filled most of 30 seconds with face-slapping.”
GoDaddy.com also featured a “sanitized version of a wet T-shirt contest.”
The following chart lists the top five and bottom five commercials in the poll
(USA TODAY, 2/5).
| COMPANY |
DESCRIPTION |
SCORE |
| Budweiser |
Crabs worship Bud ice chest |
8.56 |
| Budweiser |
Stray dog and the Clydesdales |
8.29 |
| Bud Light |
Rock, Paper, Scissors game for beer |
8.28 |
| Doritos |
Guy in car, girl show Doritos qualities |
7.95 |
| Bud Light |
Immigrants learn to ask for Bud Light |
7.87 |
| COMPANY |
DESCRIPTION |
SCORE |
| SalesGenie.com |
SalesGenie.com helps sales success |
4.05 |
| Revlon Colorist |
Sheryl Crow sings new song |
4.09 |
| Flomax |
Prostate drug lets men bike, kayak |
4.22 |
| Garmin |
GPS navigator vs. paper map monster |
4.34 |
| GoDaddy.com |
2nd airing of marketing department |
4.71 |
OTHER POLLS: Sprint was the highest-ranked advertiser in the
Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review, while Garmin finished last. Sprint
is joined by Blockbuster, Budweiser, FedEx and Snickers with “A” grades,
while Garmin, Hewlett-Packard, Izod, King Pharmaceuticals and SalesGenie.com had
the lowest-ranking spots. Kellogg School of Management Clinical Professor Tim
Calkins said advertisers “played it safe this year. We did not see a lot
of risk-taking. ... The brands that did the best were able to entertain while
delivering a clear product message” (Kellogg School). Blockbuster
won the AOL Super Sunday Ad Poll, with 14% of the vote (AOL). The most-viewed
commercials of this year’s game by TiVo subscribers were, in descending
order, Bud Light’s “Language Course,” Bud Light’s “Rock
Paper Scissors,” FedEx’ “Don’t Judge,” Nationwide’s
“Federline” and Doritos’ “Live The Flavor” (TiVo).
SCORING DRIVES: The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Suzanne Vranica
writes A-B’s ads “resonated” with a panel of ad execs and consumers.
One of the “most popular” was the face-slapping ad created by DDB.
Coca-Cola “was the clear winner of a much-anticipated matchup” with
PepsiCo, as Pepsi’s ads for Sierra Mist “were seen as generally missing
the humor mark.” Brand Buzz ad exec Christian Barnett said, “Coke
was brilliantly done -– superb.” Vranica writes FedEx, CareerBuilder
and ETrade were “disappointing” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/5).
USA TODAY’s Laura Petrecca, on the top-ranked Budweiser Crab ad: “You
don’t need dialogue to stand out in that ad, so if you’re in a crowded
Super Bowl party, you can just watch it and get the punch line.” But ABC’s
“GMA” anchor Chris Cuomo noted, “They ain’t the frogs”
(“GMA,” ABC, 2/5). DAILY VARIETY’s Brian Lowry writes
FedEx had the game’s “first truly creative spot, featuring a moon-based
office.” Also, Sprint earned kudos for its “connectile disfunction”
ad. Coca-Cola had a “splashy and eclectic day,” while A-B had “more
hits than misses” (DAILY VARIETY, 2/5). YAHOO SPORTS’ Dan
Wetzel wrote Bud Light “delivered a number of slapstick, juvenile numbers
that certainly pleased its target demo,” young males. Also, Toyota was a
“winner” for its ads for the Tundra pickup, as it “actually
tried to sell a truck by showing off the truck” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 2/4).
In Chicago, Steve Johnson gave both the Bud Light “Hitchhiker” and
the FedEx Ground spot four out of five stars (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 2/4).
In Ft. Lauderdale, Sherri Winston gives a “score” grade to Nationwide,
Sprint and Revlon ads, while spots for FedEx, CareerBuilder.com and Sierra Mist
earned a “fumble.” Snickers earned a special “personal foul”
for its ad showing two men kissing (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 2/5).
MISSING THE MARK: In L.A., Mike Penner writes the majority of
ads “could have been summarized by the woman in the Chevrolet ad, cringing
as her car is surrounded by crazed, half-naked men with the kind of torsos shirts
were made for.” Penner: “The not-too-subliminal message was, ‘We
really have no more new ideas’” (L.A. TIMES, 2/5). In New
Orleans, Dave Walker writes, the Bud and Bud Light ads “just weren’t
as funny as they think they are.” Also, he writes of the SalesGenie.com
ad, “People who need this business probably know what it sells, but for
me this commercial was a failed cold call” (TIMES-PICAYUNE, 2/5).
In Pittsburgh, Rob Owen: “Why would something called SalesGenie.com spend
so much money advertising during the Super Bowl when so few of the game’s
viewers will actually make use of its service?” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE,
2/5). YAHOO SPORTS’ Wetzel wrote, “GMC gave us a robot contemplating
suicide after getting laid off. ... This was particularly hilarious, we’re
sure, to all of the recently laid off [GM] factory workers” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com,
2/4). Adweek’s Barbara Lippert was among a group writing live blogs
around the ads at ADFREAK.com. Lippert wrote, “In the beginning, it looked
like we had a ‘bang your head, writhe in pain’ theme, with Bud and
Doritos both going for the hurt joke. But the shock came with the Snickers spot.
... The Bud showing was particularly bad” (ADFREAK.com, 2/4). In
Salt Lake City, Jeremiah Stettler writes a panel of marketing experts called the
Snickers ad a “crowd-pleaser that probably won’t do much for Snickers’
sales.” DaVinci Marketing Creative Dir Randy Cummins said, “That was
purely a Super Bowl spot. That is no way to market your product” (SALT
LAKE TRIBUNE, 2/5).
AMATEUR HOUR: In N.Y., Stuart Elliott writes the four commercials
produced by amateurs were “at least as good as the output of the pros. Maybe
even a bit better. Maybe even really better.” Doritos had planned to run
just the winner of its online competition, but instead ran two after the voting
“was close enough to warrant a double play” (N.Y. TIMES, 2/5).
Publicis USA Exec Creative Dir Simeon Roane said of the ads, “It’s
kind of scary that a consumer can come up with stuff that good” (WALL
STREET JOURNAL, 2/5). Adweek’s Lippert, on the success of consumer-generated
spots: “It was a very bad year for ad agencies, and maybe a good year for
ads” (“The Early Show,” CBS, 2/5). In Denver, Joanne
Ostrow writes the homemade ads were the “super winners” during the
broadcast (DENVER POST, 2/5). In Raleigh, David Ranii writes Five Point
Productions, which produced the first Doritos ad that aired, “learned of
their victory the same time the rest of America did -– when their ad aired”
(NEWS & OBSERVER, 2/5). On the “Today” show, Meredith
Vieira and Matt Lauer conducted a live via-satellite interview with the team who
won the Doritos fan-generated ad contest (“Today,” NBC, 2/5).
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Oprah, Letterman Cuddle Up For CBS Promo
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TERRIFIC TWOSOME: CBS’ David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey
appeared in a ten-second promo for “The Late Show.” Letterman, an
Indiana native, was wearing a Colts jersey, while Winfrey, a Chicago native, wore
a Bears jersey. Letterman, with his arm around Winfrey, said, “You want
the Bears and I want the Colts, but we both win because we’re in love.”
Winfrey replied, “Honey, don’t talk with your mouth full” (THE
DAILY). The CHICAGO TRIBUNE’s Johnson wrote, “If house ads were
eligible for best in show, this one would win. It certainly marks the best use
of celebrity” (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 2/4). The L.A. TIMES’
Penner writes the Letterman/Winfrey promo was “the best ad of the day”
(L.A. TIMES, 2/5). The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Vranica writes CBS
“managed to outshine some of the big-spending advertisers” with the
promo (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/5).
BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Coca-Cola paid homage to Black History Month
“with an understated ad showing the changing shapes of Coke bottles over
time as milestones in black history appeared alongside.” Several other ads
“also highlighted Black History Month and highlighted the fact that ...
both coaches in the game are black” (AP, 2/5). But in Miami, Glenn
Garvin writes the “most notable thing about Sunday’s ads was a new
record for cheesiness when Coca-Cola, in an ad linked to Black History Month,
insinuated that it was the official drink of Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks and Martin
Luther King Jr.” (MIAMI HERALD, 2/5).
VEGAS, BABY: In Las Vegas, Norm Clarke notes CBS aired a promo
for “CSI” in which one of the characters looked at the camera and
said, “I miss Las Vegas.” Clarke: “Given the NFL’s obsession
with all things Vegas, you have to wonder how it got past the NFL censors. Was
it a sneak play by CBS, or the network’s insistence that it be allowed to
promote one of its biggest hits?” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 2/5).
The NFL previously restricted NBC from airing commercials for its show “Las
Vegas” during NFL broadcasts (THE DAILY).
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