Artillery’s Douglas Burdett provided this post game commentary on the Super Bowl XLVII advertising in The Virginian-Pilot.
Watch the Super Bowl? Which ad was the best?
By Douglas Burdett
©February 3, 2013
Special to The Virginian-Pilot
The Super Bowl advertising goalposts have moved – it’s no longer just about the ad. It’s about how the ad helps to move forward the brand’s engagement with consumers. If advertisers do not build buzz before, during and after the game, they’re missing an opportunity to amortize the Super Bowl advertising cost and leverage the investment.
Given these criteria, here are some of the best ads:
THE BEST
Doritos, “Fashionista Daddy”
Doritos reprised a successful contest, recruiting amateur ad makers to submit their concepts and get their friends to vote for them, all to possibly see their ad aired and win a million dollars. Doritos always runs one of their own ads along with the winning amateur submission, and the company’s princess ad was hilarious.
Toyota, “Wish Granted”
In the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, Toyota asked consumers to ask for wishes to be granted via Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #wishgranted. Toyota used many of the submissions in the commercial, and if you looked closely, the commercial even showed a picture of one of the entrants.
Coca-Cola, “Chase”
In this spot, showgirls, badlanders and cowboys race through the desert to get to a large bottle of Coke. Viewers could go to CokeChase.com and vote for the group they wanted to win, as well as sabotage another. Consumers could share their votes via social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. After the game, viewers could return to see who won the race (it was the showgirls); the first 50,000 visitors won a Coke.
THE WORST
Skechers, “Man vs. Cheetah”
Like several other ads, the ad for a running shoe made little effort to engage consumers or to build social media and public relations buzz. In the spot, a cheetah chases a gazelle in Africa, and a man wearing Skechers runs so quickly that he catches the cheetah and saves the gazelle.
Skechers shoes will make you run fast? Really? This ad might have worked for a shoe brand with an ounce of credibility with athletes – in 1993.
Tell us: Which ads did you like best?
