Tham Khai Meng, Ogilvy & Mather’s Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, takes a look at the ads featured in this year’s “Soft” Bowl 2012
Following Super Bowl 2012 Tham Khai Meng, Ogilvy & Mather’s Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, wrote a review for top UK ad magazine Campaign. It is reprinted below.
I got to Heathrow just as the first flakes were falling. London was about to be crippled by a paltry 4 inches of snow, but I intended to return back to the US even if I had to swim.
I was heading to Pennsylvania for my first Super Bowl party. Having lived most of my life in Asia and Europe, I’ve watched plenty of football, but I am still a bit of a rookie when it comes to the American variety. And what better way to fix that than during the Super Bowl, the US’s grand display of backslapping hell-yeah-Americanism.
I landed back in New York, picked up my rented Ford F-150 pick up truck, and stopped by home to change into Red Wing boots, a Giants jersey, and a Cabela’s cap. The truck and I headed to the countryside, where 4 inches of snow is considered a light dusting. Two hours later, I arrived at Jeremy’s house and met up with my fellow Giants fans and a big black Lab named Lady who rooted for the Patriots. Jeremy, Dave, Peter, Big Leroy, Ray, and the rest of the guests sprawled all over mismatched furniture in a man-cave of a den, paper plates on their laps piled high with Doritos, chicken wings, and steak, and a beer (or two) close at hand. This was Super Bowl living, man.
Every year, the American media spills endless words on speculation about the big game: who is healthy, what is the Vegas line (bookie lingo for “odds on”), which team is going to win, and why that is a crime against the universe. This time around, things were a little different. Ever since Apple’s 1984 ad, the Super Bowl ads have become an ever-more important part of the experience, and the steady reveal of the great work as the game marched on has become one of the most anticipated parts of Super Bowl Sunday. The ads could be counted on to be great, even if the game sucked.
Last year, VW upended that tradition by releasing its sweet “Vader Kid” spot on the web well before the game. The gambit worked – due in no small part to the strength of the ad itself – and, as day follows night, the web was flooded with teasers and early releases this year. I think some of the fun has gone out of it, and, in my book, great ads don’t need teasers anyway.
At USD3.5 million per 30-second spot, I can understand why marketers would want to extend the Super Bowl advertising experience into the chatter of social media, but the teasers set up expectations that no ad could fulfill. The pre-released ads blew their impact before the first kickoff. VW’s great teaser, “The Bark Side,” garnered 11 million views for its rendition of The Empire Strikes Back theme “sung” exclusively by dogs (The Bark Side Teaser). If only the ad itself had been worthy of the build up. Still, I settled into my prime spot on the couch in Jeremy’s den, expecting to be wowed and ready to be “hoo-rahed” to death, as the Marines say.
Instead, I saw a strangely softened show. The game is gentler, perhaps due to sensible new rules that safeguard the players from brain injury? But to my great surprise, the whole Super Bowl was feminized. With Madonna at halftime, an amateurish NFL ad that promoted rules and safety-equipment, and a healthy chunk of the ads flaunting a baby or a dog, this Super Bowl was a sight less rugged than what I had expected. I know the NFL has to appeal to women – 46% of its audience is female. But does it have to emasculate the audience in the process? The ads took few risks and kept to formulaic chuckle-generators like pets, cute babies, and cheap de-fanged gags. All that made the great work – and there was a handful of that – stand out all the more. As for my favorites, well, Here Weego.
Best use of comedy: The charming M&M characters got a little naughty last night, didn’t they? A brown M&M, mistaken for having her “milk chocolate showing,” inspires an M&M bloke to strip down since “it’s that sort of party.” Well executed, funny, and simple, this ad stuck with the joke and thankfully didn’t show us the self-aware moment that must have followed.
Best use of man’s best friend: So many (too many) dog ads to choose from. VW’s “Dog Strikes Back” might have been the most anticipated in the genre, but it got stuck in the gate, just like its pudgy canine protagonist. Bud Light redeemed all dogs – and the generally tepid showing from Anheuser-Busch InBev – with “Rescue Dog.” In it, a frisky mutt named Weego goes sprinting for a Bud Light whenever someone calls “Here Weego!” It’s a nice play on Bud Light’s tag line, “Here we go” and includes a warm pitch for rescued pets. It’s a clever means of doing good while you spend, something consumers want to do these days – in this case, do good while you’re getting pissed!
Not all collaborative brandings were quite as successful. GE’s “Power and Beer” devoted nearly half of its runtime to Budweiser in an ad meant to highlight the real-world implications of all GE products. Jeremy said: “That was the best ad of the night for Budweiser. Too bad it was for GE.” I’d have to agree with him.
Best and Worst automotive ad: If this Super Bowl is any guide, product placement in advertisements seems to be to the coming trend. “2012” featured a Chevy Silverado pickup truck driving through a post-apocalyptic wasteland on its way to a rendezvous with the only other survivors, all Chevy truck drivers of course. The ravaged landscape is dotted with pop-culture references, and the final scene revolves around Twinkies, which are popularly supposed to be so pumped with chemicals that they, apparently, will never spoil. Of course, the real joke is one step deeper: Hostess, the maker of Twinkies, just filed for bankruptcy.
The boys were on their feet for this one, but I held back. Sure, the ad may make you chuckle a bit, but I find the cheap shot it takes at Ford to be inexcusable.
Best use of sex: Sex sells, but on Super Bowl Sunday, sex really sells. Fiat showed how to do it right with “Seduction,” a hot and memorable spot for the 500 Abarth. Go Daddy, on the other hand, showed us how to waste USD7 million and beautiful women at the same time. But it was Teleflora who remembered that sex sells best when sex is simple. “Give and Receive” featured the breathtaking Adriana Lima husking out the simple line, “Guys, Valentine’s Day is not that complicated. You give, and then you receive.” The end super says it all: “Happy Valentines Night.” Say what you will about unsettling economic undertones and tawdry sexual exchanges: this ad works.
Best use of a celebrity: More than just that, this is the best ad of the night as far as I’m concerned. Clint Eastwood, with a voice like crumbling asphalt, picks up where Chrysler Corporation left off in 2011 with a beautifully written locker room speech for America. The huge emotion this ad evoked came as a breath of fresh air, reminding me once again of what a great Super Bowl ad can achieve with great writing, beautiful direction, haunting sound design, and a clear, succinct message. This spot lived up to the responsibility of producing something for over 100 million viewers, and it did it with panache and class. Exquisitely calibrated to its audience and sensitive to their experience, this ad drew a clear parallel between the resilience of ordinary Americans and the durability of their nation. It was an ad for American ex
ceptionalism as much as it was for Chrysler. Coming at the tail end of a brutal recession and in the midst of a punishing election cycle, Clint Eastwood’s speech cut through the night and spoke for his whole nation.
That was the highlight of the night, for me at least. Here was an ad that spoke to blokes without alienating women. Here was the gritty emotion I had been seeking and the essence of this particularly American spectacle. The rest of the guests might have been a little bit more enthused by the Giant’s victory, but Chrysler’s ad kept coming back in the conversation. It provided the narrative for the night. Unlike everything that had come before, Chrysler’s ad made its impact within the confines of the spot itself.
It was a great game, and, after watching the Giants claim their trophy, the evening broke up. The guys stood, stretched and prepared to hit the road. Everyone hugged, and everyone asked for that wings recipe. I headed out to my truck convinced that football in America has gone a little soft.