Super Bowl ads ranked by MSU faculty
By Brittany Shammas (Last updated: 02/08/10 12:13am)At Robert Kolt’s 13th annual Super Bowl party, bathroom breaks were reserved for game time, and the night was over when the last commercial played.
A group of 14 faculty members from MSU’s Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing got together Sunday at the Kolt residence not to watch the game, but to rate the best and worst of the commercials. Here is the group’s top three and the worst of the night:
Best
Google: Parisian love
The television screen is blank except for a Google search box into which a person types a series of queries beginning with “Study abroad Paris, France.” The search box documents a romance between the study abroad student and a French girl as it leads into “impress a French girl” and ends with “How to assemble a crib.”
The commercial was met with a chorus of cheers, and “aw’s” erupted in Kolt’s living room at the end of Google’s commercial. “Besides being cute, that’s exactly why people use Google,” Pam Jodway said.
The commercial’s simplicity also makes it stand out, said David Regan, an instructor in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing.
“They delivered an effective message of what they’re about, and they did it in simple way,” he said. “Sometimes some of the best commercials are the simplest.”
Budweiser: Teamwork helps beer truck
After a bridge collapses, a group of people lie down to form a human bridge for a Budweiser truck to drive across. Regan said the advertisement played on a key emotion in America.
“It delivered a message of teaming up together, which I think is timely,” he said. “It’s a key emotion in America now as we’re getting through the recession.”
Doritos: Hands off my mama
In this commercial, a man picks up his girlfriend and tries to impress her son. After the boyfriend tries to eat one of the son’s Doritos, he’s told to “Keep your hands off my Doritos, and keep your hands off my mama.”
“It’s always cute when the kid is empowered,” advertising professor Bruce VandenBergh said. “He’s the man of the family, protecting his mama.”
Worst
Walt Disney Pictures Prince of Persia
A promotion for the upcoming Disney film starring Jake Gyllenhaal, comprised of quick clips from the film.
“Movie trailers are always (boring),” VandenBergh said. “They don’t do anything interesting. They kind of cut and past scenes together. They’re forgettable.”
Sketchers Shape-Ups
Features consumer testimonials and football star Joe Montana to promote the Shape-Up shoes.
“It was truly not entertaining,” Regan said. “I think it cheapened the brand by the way the commercial looked. It was a lower brand retail feeling.”
Kolt called the ad “just awful.”
“I don’t know how that even got on,” he said. “I’d like to meet the ad executive who approved that.”
Universal Orlando
A sneak peak of the Florida theme park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which is slated to open this spring. The ad features animated images of the park.
“The people who do movie trailers all the time — they do them the same way,” Kolt said. “They’re quick at it, with loud sounds. They don’t really tell a story … It was just quick clips.”
Originally Published: 02/07/10 11:45pm
Darko
02/08/10 10:27amWho cares what these idiots think?
Yeah!
02/08/10 11:21amwho are these morons with doctorates in exactly this field? what could world-leading experts in advertising tell us about the biggest advertising event of the year?
Guy who watched some ads
02/08/10 12:06pmThese ad choices for best & worst show the “problem” (if it’s worth calling it that) with commercials and what is deemed effective today.
These profs are right, the step up ad was tacky and not very creative or flashy. But it was effective. I was interested in the product, and may look into buying a pair because of what information was conveyed.
The google ad, which was ranked as one of the best, did not make me want to run to my computer and use google.
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Cat
02/08/10 12:13pmGuy Who Watched, you’re a little off in your assumption that all ads are to sell something. Sometimes, they’re just about brand awareness. In this case, Google was reiterating that it is your source for all searches, whatever your needs, whatever stage of your life.
You’re not necessarily going to run to your computer and use Google the minute you see the ad, but they want to be the first thing at the front of your mind, the next time you are searching.
I’m guessing they’re advertising this year to flex a little muscle and remind the world that they’re still the biggest thing in search, even with the emergence of Microsoft’s heavily advertised Bing.
mvt
02/08/10 1:43pmEffectiveness at selling is certainly a valid way to look at the SB commercials. It is not the only way to evaluate them and I venture to say that it is not the way most of us evaluate them. I think most of us watch them and want them to be entertaining and/or funny.
By these metrics this year’s crop was well below average with few goods ones (Snickers-Betty White, Kid/Doritos/Mama), and lots of bad ones (Doritos/coffin, Audi/Green police, all three of the ‘people in their underwear’, and on and on).
Overall a disappointing year for SB commericials.
Erik Samdahl
02/08/10 4:57pmI don’t disagree with anything on the list, but… Prince of Persia looks like a bad movie, but the quote says, “Movie trailers are always (boring).” This is the first person I’ve ever heard say that movie trailers are boring. Everyone who has even the slightest interest in movies love movie trailers. That being said, if the quote is intended to imply that movie trailers amidst Superbowl ads are boring – then that would be a more accurate assessment.
Of course the Betty White (Bette?) commercial was the funniest.