Monish Bhattacharyya
SKM Group - Buffalo Advertising Agency - Creating results through targeted marketing.
I get it. I really do. There’s an inexorable amount of pressure to deliver when it comes to Super Bowl commercials.
It’s the most watched television program on the earth. That’s billions of eyeballs glued to your work. And unlike every other program, this is one where a large percentage of the viewership has tuned in specifically for the commercials. Not to mention, the millions of dollars your client has agreed to shell out as a show of faith in your supposed brilliance.
So every year, some of the best creative minds in our business are faced with the daunting task of trying to top each other, as well as trying to top what was produced the previous year.
And Peyton Manning thinks he has a daunting task.
At some point, though, I think we may have lost sight of what we’re trying to do. Too many advertisers risk brand equity just to top the USA Today ad meter. This mentality can put everyone on shaky ground. Years ago, a sneaker company did a spot for the Super Bowl where a group of hunters went to Africa and tracked down and tranquilized a Kenyan in order to steal his running secrets. Seriously, this happened. The backlash was immediate and vicious. So much so the sneaker company sued the ad agency responsible for irreversible damages done to their brand. Which smacks a little bit of sour grapes since they agreed to run it in the first place. I mean no client would ever shell out millions on a spot and then tell the agency to surprise them on game day, would they?
Even with that cautionary tale, every year agencies push the boundaries of good taste and even better sense. When it comes to the Super Bowl, shock is king. Which begs the question: Has creepy become the new cool?
I’m going to give you two examples, one where creepy works and another where its just creepy.
The first is Old Spice. In my opinion, these guys get it done right every year. Their commercials are original, memorable and a whole lot of fun. This year they have done what some have called the “creepiest commercial ever.” It’s a ballad sung by moms lamenting the fact that Old Spice has turned their innocent little boys into targets for every young woman out there. Loved it through the last shot of a mom sliding out from under a couch cushion on which her son is canoodling with a young woman. Mom sliding all the way back to her recliner definitely creeped me out. You can see the spot here:
The second example is of creepy gone horribly wrong. It’s one of the consumer-created finalists for Doritos called “Finger Cleaner,” and opens on a group of mechanics sitting around the garage eating Doritos. One of the guys has finished his bag and is about to lick his fingers clean when his supervisor tells him to use the finger cleaner which is a hole in the wall with a couple of lights above it. Right from the start I could see where this was going, and I hoped that it just wouldn’t, but it did. For me, this would have been a better ad for Purel than Doritos. Check it out here:
Are these ads edgy or have they gone over the edge? I guess we’ll find out when the big day happens. That would be the Monday after the Super Bowl when all the opinion polls come out.
Monish Bhattacharyya
Senior Vice President, Executive Creative Director
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