The Clippers. Long the laughingstock of the NBA and LA’s distant second fiddle, the Clips have the league’s best record and are currently riding a 16 game winning streak. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are big reasons for the turnaround. And they’re getting commercial time now. State Farm has an ad getting rave reviews which tells the story of Chris Paul and his identical twin separated at birth, Cliff. They were both born to assist…Chris on the basketball court, and Cliff as a State Farm agent.
And Kia’s campaign featuring Blake Griffin continues. In these, the always deadpan Griffin travels back in time to give his ’90s child self advice. The spots come complete with classic/crappy songs of the era…Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It”, OMC’s “How Bizarre”, and Eiffel 65′s “Blue.” Stop wearing jean shorts. Haha!
The Kia Soul has had a few hugely popularcommercials featuring hamsters. And here’s a new one. It’s quite ambitious as it is set in an 18th century opera house which conjures up Amadeus. Without fail, they show the stuffy opera audience how to let loose. The song is Axwell’s remix of “In My Mind”. A really fun spot which will be a big hit.
The Super Bowl is the biggest night in advertising, but it can also feel hollow. This year, rates started at $3.5 million for a 30 second spot. So really, a lot of it feels like going to a bar and just seeing dudes throwing around money. The ads are mostly just for show….I don’t think anybody is going to buy a car or discover “Doe-ree-toes” simply based on a commercial. And at $3.5 million+ per ad, any corporation who would skip the Super Bowl and instead HIRE NEW WORKERS would get infinitely better PR. Alright. Now that I’ve gone on my mini-rant, here’s my pick for top 4 Super Bowl commercials.
#4 Doritos “Man’s Best Friend”
I had to pick from a number of spots for the #4 position and this came out on top. I originally had picked the other Doritos spot (“Sling Baby”), but after after thinking about it, “Man’s Best Friend” is wittier and less predictable.
Hugely entertaining and over-the-top. At first, it seems like a typical male fantasy but it becomes surprisingly sweet with a great twist ending.
#1 Budweiser’s “Return of the King”
As a former history major and a fan of period pieces, I loved this commercial. The artistic direction is beautiful, music from The Natural works well, and it only has two words in it (and a lot of cheering). I know the beer snobs are gonna snark “Budweiser? They got that excited about crappy Budweiser?” Shut the hell up. If you had to drink disgusting bathtub gin for 13 years, you’d be ELATED for beer, Budweiser or otherwise. And it’s true. Anheuser-Busch was one of the few American breweries to survive Prohibition, and they sent a case to the White House (delivered by Clydesdales) right after repeal.
Some other notable commercials:
Chrysler’s/Clint Eastwood’s “It’s Halftime in America”
Probably the most discussed/publicized Super Bowl commercial this year. It’s been getting a lot of political implications…some are calling it the best Obama re-election commercial that will be made. This one was a big hit with advertising experts. I had mixed feelings about it. The copy is quite well-written and fairly inspiring. But to me, it was a little draggy and boring. I know Clint Eastwood is a legend and his voice leads gravitas to the commercial, but I feel like at varying points he sounds like he’s going to (1) die, or (2) yell at me to get off his lawn. Chrysler’s Eminem spot was my favorite of last Super Bowl and this is of a similar vein. It’s something I SHOULD like, but just turned out OK in my eyes. And this is a 2 minute spot starring Clint Eastwood. It must have cost an incredible amount of money. Remember what I said in the beginning of this post, about how money might be better used by HIRING WORKERS? That severely diminishes the message for me.
Bud Light’s “Rescue Dog”
Not incredibly original. But it’s cute and does have a nice message supporting rescue dogs.
Samsung’s “Thing Called Love”
I really liked the first spot of this Samsung campaign. But they kept going with it, and the campaign felt stale pretty quickly. Yes, we know that people who stand in line for consumer products are losers and the Apple cult people are really annoying. So I was surprised by this one. Using a song that was semi-popular like 9 years ago (albeit, one I’ve always liked) is a little odd. It turns into a lot of fun, though. I don’t think it’s an amazing advertisement, but one that I really enjoyed watching. Looks like a great party. And a Brian Urlacher cameo!
“Sex sells” is one of the oldest adages in the ad world. I don’t necessarily think it sells, but it definitely gets attention (and pageviews). So in a continuing theme of Super Bowl commercials before the game, here’s two featuring Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima. The first is a Kia Optima commercial that contrasts the dreams of a husband and wife. In addition to Adriana Lima, it also has UFC champ Chuck Liddell, the miraculously still alive Motley Crue and a nice twist ending. The second is for Teleflora, and features Adriana giving simple Valentine’s Day (…err NIGHT) advice.
Last year, Blake Griffin won the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest as a rookie (he also won Rookie of the Year). His signature dunk involved jumping over a Kia Optima. So he seemed like a natural spokesman for the Kia Optima. Here are some of Blake’s commercials. He’s really got the deadpan humor down.
If you pay attention to popular music, you probably know this song, seeing as that it was #1 for 6 weeks earlier in the summer. But I don’t really follow the top 40 anymore, so I just found out about it. Both the commercial and song are somewhat weird, but this ad for the Kia Soul definitely stands out.
Another car commercial with a recent breakout artist. Foster the People is perhaps best known for their great song “Pumped Up Kicks”, a sleeper hit that’s climbed the charts to a current peak of #3. This ad taught me that the Nissan Versa has the most headroom per dollar, even if you have a goofy haircut or hat.
Getting psyched for the NFL? This is a nice song, but it doesn’t exactly feel like a football song. Though I guess the sentimentality of the tune does fit the overall tone of the ad.
