Super Bowl 47 was viewed by some 108 million people. Some watched for the 49ers, some for the Ravens. Some for the ads. Before the game commenced I called 49ers by three points (I never claimed to be perfect). The Ravens may have walked away with the Lombardi trophy, but the real winners of the big game were advertisers.
On January 31st I announced via Twitter, “Yes, I will be dual-screening and live tweeting about #SuperBowl #commercials. (I’ll have to get all my cooking done Saturday.)” I may have mentioned my intentions via Facebook as well.
Early on Super Sunday I tweeted, “Can’t wait for #SuperBowl. #football #food #commercials. Doesn’t get much better. Especially looking forward to #Pepsi and #Sorento.” Intentionally I did not seek out the ads in advance. (What’s the fun in that?) I live tweeted my initial reactions to the commercials and here’s my brief analysis of how companies spent $4 million in 30 seconds.
Century 21
My initial reaction to Century 21’s househunting for the almost newlyweds was, “Are you kidding me?” But many people who I follow seemed to like it.
Hyundai
Hyundai’s Epic Play Date had everything, from Flaming Lips to giant inflatable balls. I do have one complaint, however. Once a word’s on a commercial it’s not cool any more. Let’s stop using the word epic.
Audi
Audi’s commercial got this initial reaction from me on Twitter, “#BraveryWins I like it! Worth it.” A teenage boy goes to prom, kisses the girl, and leaves with a black eye, courtesy of her boyfriend. Audi does well in targeting a younger demographic (even though it was Daddy’s car).
Go Daddy
I have never been a fan of Go Daddy. Not their marketing. Not their commercials. Thumbs down for their tacky commercial featuring Bar Rafaeli and some geeky guy. Wrong on so many levels. And Go Daddy continues to alienate over 50% of their market. Their second commercial got this from me, “Ok #godaddy that one was better. I hate to admit it.” I still refuse to host my sites there.
Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein featured a very attractive, nearly naked man. I tweeted, “#CalvinKlein yes please.” (Sorry honey; he’s delicious.) And I loved this tweet from @tommytrc, “I’m so glad I didn’t return those phone calls to Calvin Klein. There is no way I would’ve done that.”
Dodge
“Well done #Dodge. #sb47 #PaulHarvey” I live in small town Wisconsin, surrounded by farmers. There was a lot of talk about this ad on Twitter and Facebook. Mostly positive (someone said it made “God” look cruel). Dodge positioned itself as the perfect complement to hardworking farmers. Adding the respected voice of Paul Harvey, took the spot to the next level.
Speed Stick
I don’t remember the last time I saw an ad by Speed Stick, but I won’t soon forget this one. A young man is doing laundry at a Laundromat. He takes laundry out of an unattended dryer when the clothing’s owner walks over. The man pretends he was going to fold the underthings belonging to the attractive woman. Definitely attention getting. I tweeted, “#HandleIt thanks for reminding me to always use lingerie bags at the Laundromat. #sb47.”
Power Outage
An article about Super Bowl 47 just wouldn’t be complete without a brief mention of the power outage. These brands took advantage of the power outage. While I tweeted, “We’d rather watch the cheerleaders while the power is out. #SuperBowl” @Matt_Siltala said, “I think this is a ploy to get more ad time.”
Brief Tweet Reactions
#Oreo I don’t know…
#Fast6 is this a car movie… Looks like it’s about tanks.
#wishesgranted I heart Kaley.
#GotMilk very good. #Hyundai funny.
#VW fell flat.
#CokeChase hope there’s more.
Best #TacoBell commercial ever.
#ETrade cute. #C21 hasn’t this been done before? #IronMan ok.
#Bud #Zoe funny. Plus she’s prettty.
#Axe good commercial. Except that girl looked like she was 15… #sb47 #ads
#Sorento. Waited for that one. Not disappointed. #sb47 #commercial
#Samsung #thenextbigthing I bet you lost a lot of people on that one… #sb47
Share your reactions in the comments below.
