Thoughts on the 2011 Super bowl Commercials

The Force

Brand: Volkswagen
Client: Volkswagen of America, Inc
Ad Agency: Deutsch, L.A.

There was no doubt in my mind that “The Force” was the best spot of the night. Of course the Mini Vader spot was going to win, people are suckers for small animals and cute babes/kids. Cute babies and kids are the ad industry’s go to play when it comes to entertaining the crowd for the big game. To add to the Mini Vader saga, according to Adfreak Volkswagen’s super kid whose name is Max page suffers from a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot, and he needs a pacemaker. Now if that doesn’t pull on people’s heart strings nothing will.

Siege

Brand: Coca-Cola
Client: Coca-Cola Company
Ad Agency: Wieden + Kennedy

The reason I like the spot above is because of the sophisticated graphics that must have been involved in the creation of the ad. Also, the spot plays like a movie and it entertains people. It’s part of the “Open Happiness” campaign. The campaign began in January 2009.

First Date
Brand: Pepsi Max
Client: Pepsi Company
Ad Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners



I thought this spot was great; I developed an even greater sense of respect for the Pepsi Company because they let this commercial air on the biggest advertising stage of the year. I already drink only Pepsi products and great advertising will only further cement my loyalty to them. I was surprised that this spot aired because it explicitly discusses “sex” and as a country we tend to frown on that because we tend to be more conservative then our European counterparts. So to a spot like the one put on display during one of the biggest television in the country makes me extremely proud of our country and our marketers. It shows that we can be a bit more liberal and let people decide for themselves what’s appropriate for them and their families and what isn’t.

Best Part


Brand: Doritos
Client: Frito-Lay
Ad Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners

This ad was actually the winner of the Crash the Super Bowl ad competition. I am not sure if this spot will hurt or help the Doritos brand as far as over all sales. I think people might be offended by the spot because again we a very conservative nation. And I don’t people appreciated seeing a man sucking on another man’s finer. The only thing that I believe grabbed people’s attention was the shock value of the spot. This commercial will fall in the same commercial predicament that the Snickers “Mechanics” commercial was in back in 2007. TBWA\Chiat\Day, New York created the Mechanics spot.

Artiste


Brand: E*Trade
Client: E*Trade Financial Corporation
Ad Agency: Grey, New York

What else can I say, this campaign as a whole has a special place in my heart because it was an E-Trade “Talking Baby” commercial that got this whole blog started. So, this is just another commercial in a long line of funny spots by E-Trade’s ad agency.

Well people please enjoy and leave your comments below!

Best,
-A.B.

Bags Fly Free on SWA

Southwest is back to using benefit advertising to bag on its competitors with its “Bags Fly Free” campaign. They use a good cop; bad cop routine to point out their competitor’s shortcomings. The bad cop is screaming, “We know your charging for bags, drop the bags and turn around.” Then the good cop screams, “Protect the load.” The majority of the spots revolve around the baggage handlers and how much they care about your bags.

Even at the end of the 30-second spot SWA doesn’t miss an opportunity to point out that competitors charge up to $120 as oppose to them where bags fly free. The tone of the spot above was pretty serious in my opinion, but I think their intensions were to have it be more comedic. Due to the good cop; bad cop routine I think this can safely be referred to as Southwest Airlines NYPD Blue moment.

The spot above was created by Austin based agency GSD&M. The agency could be a good internship spot for those University of Texas at Austin advertising kids.

The spot below has more of a funny tone to it when compared to the one above.



Anyway, what do you guys think? Let me know in the comment section below.

Best,
-A.B.

Designs on the Back of Coke Cans

When I first started this blog about two years ago I wanted to share with people more information about the people that actually created the ad. I am finding that the traditional T.V. spots and print ads are relatively easy to find who created them. It’s the more obscure forms of advertising that I am struggling to find details on the creators.

For example, the design on the coke below, who designed it? The abstract design of the coke bottle and the soccer ball on the back of the can shown below, I think I can safely assume that the soccer ball was selected in celebration of the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa but again who created these abstract designs? Should I be satisfied with knowing that the company either did the designs in-house or contracted the work to a traditional Madison Avenue agency?

The Coke T.V. spots are relatively easy to find who created them, but not who created the artistic designs on the back of the cans. It’s those obscure ads that I wanted this blog to provide more information on. Traditional TV spots and print ads are easy to find information on but not this type of advertising. Shedding some light on obscure advertising and designs is how I wanted Inside That Ad to differentiate itself from the other advertising blogs out there on the web.

Do you guys have any suggestions as to how to find information on advertising that is displayed on non-traditional media?

Best,

-A.B.