My Super Bowl Observations and Takeaways
You want to know what I thought about Super Bowl XLIII? Of course not, but I’m going to give you my point of view anyway.
Some players may be in for a huge marketing payday, some advertisers could have done something better than spend $3 million for 30 seconds. And all in all, it’s safe to say this Super Bowl was even better overall than the one played last year (even for this born-and-bred Giants fan).
Some bullet points:
- James Harrison made the greatest play in a Super Bowl. Ever. But will he be able to cash in on the 100-yard interception return for a touchdown that provided a 14-point swing to end the first half? Reebok did make some David Tyree “The Catch” t-shirts last season, and photos of Tyree’s catch have shown up just about everywhere possible in the New York Tri-State area. And that catch was at one point the greatest play in a Super Bowl. Ever.
- What about Santonio Holmes and Disney World? Why does the Super Bowl MVP have to share the spotlight with Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger? Sure Roethlisberger is the bigger (and tougher to spell) name, but Disney needs to stick true to it’s “I’m Going to Disney World” campaign and honor the MVP… and only the MVP.
- Got Anhueser-Busch shares? I’d be a little leery right now, after watching Bud waste away $27 million for Super Bowl advertisements. The Bud Light Meeting ad? OK, hit home with talks of budget cuts, and used the “drinkability” tag line, but who’s sitting in the office having a beer during a meeting? Clydesdales? Cute story lines, but too long for most people (like me) to sit still. I do think they won though with Bud Light Lime (summer state of mind) and Discussions of Drinkability because they both described the brand experience (even if a 6-pack of Bud Light Lime isn’t really going to change the seasons).
- The best-working commercials were the ones with some sort of directive, incentive or explanation of the product. GoDaddy.com showed old content, but drove viewers to the site for “uncensored content” that was really PG. No idea if it got viewers to sign up for Web services though. Denny’s told people about its free Grand Slam breakfast being served up (and of course there’s no Denny’s in my neighborhood). Cash4Gold.com got me to sell my gold toilet and gold medallion of me wearing a gold medallion, but I thought for 25 seconds that it was really going to be a FreeCreditReport.com spot in disguise.
- Coke Zero gets a zero for the modern-day Mean Joe Green commercial. Maybe that worked in the boardroom, with the brand managers for Coke getting ticked off, but it left me saying, “what the…” Remind me not to hire the Coke Zero folks to write the script for the ACCM Awards Show (shameless plug).
- If I was a Steelers fan, I’d be ticked off because the Super Bowl Champions locker room cap is ugly. Then again, if you’re a Steelers fan, you’d but it if it went through a wood chipper first. Last year’s locker room cap wasn’t a thing of beauty, but since it had the lowercase “ny” on it, I thought it was the most beautiful piece of wardrobe in the world.
- Can you market around Kurt Warner? yes, he’s not the quarterback for the Super Bowl champions, and he may be the nicest guy in the game, but brands have to be choosy. I think if you’re a brand marketer for a family product, you’ve got your man. The father of seven (two of which are his wife Brenda’s from before the two met) could easily do Chuck E Cheese, McDonald’s, and a lot of other products that scream family entertainment.
