It isn't difficult to understand why: this year's showdown between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts was the most-watched broadcast in US TV history, attracting 106.5 million pairs of eyeballs.
It's not just the Super Bowl broadcast that advertisers pay for. The best spots can expect to be discussed in print, TV and online for days afterwards, and achieve the kind of YouTube longevity that's normally reserved for that other world-renowned SB - Susan Boyle.
This year, Media invited an Asia-based American and an America-based Irishman to talk us through the hits and the misses of the night. Let them introduce themselves...
"I still remember the great Super Bowl ads. I saw Mean Joe Green toss his jersey to the boy in the tunnel, I was baffled by Apple's 1984 and, since then, I've been humbled by a list of Bud, Coke and E*Trade spots!
"Yes, I saw them all. But now I'm wondering: is this still the high mark for our industry? Some brands aren't even suiting up this year. For the first time in 23 years Pepsi is giving the big game a pass. Instead, it's putting its money into social media and other relevant places we've now herded customers.
"It's a different world now. Not entirely a better one, but different."
"When I worked in Asia, the Super Bowl was a kinda distant thing. One might hear that some American in Hanoi was trying to drum up attendees to his Budweiser-and-hot-dog party at 5 o' clock of a Monday morning. Ummm... no thanks, but do let me know who won.
"It's all very under-the-global-radar. Which is a trifle odd given that the winners are crowned 'World Champions'. And yet, last Sunday, for the XLIVth year in a row, both teams just happened to be from the EeuuEsssAaay, with the Saints now the very best football (very little 'foot' involved btw) team in the known Universe. Huzzah!
"The other thing for which the event is known in a World-Champion-in-an-exclusively-American-kinda-way, is as an exuberant TV commercial fest. The ads are as, if not more, important than the game itself. Which is all a bit bizarre, made more so by advertisers splooging close to a hundred grand for every second of time bought. Yes folks, that's US$100,000 per second, which is why I feel reviews such as this need to be über-critical.
"You make a Super Bowl spot by using any or all of the following: slapstick... a guy gets hit in the gonads with your product or a plank; animals or, even better, talking animals; a famous person doing something goofy to show they're not as big a tosser as you'd previously imagined; a dolt or a bunch of dolts doing doltish things, usually in an office; or, lastly, a car ad. That's the formula."
Here for your viewing pleasure are the ads and the (sometimes harsh) reviews:
Dr Pepper
NFL
Volkswagen
Coca-Cola
truTV
Emerald Nuts & Pop-Secret
It's not just the Super Bowl broadcast that advertisers pay for. The best spots can expect to be discussed in print, TV and online for days afterwards, and achieve the kind of YouTube longevity that's normally reserved for that other world-renowned SB - Susan Boyle.
This year, Media invited an Asia-based American and an America-based Irishman to talk us through the hits and the misses of the night. Let them introduce themselves...
Robert Gaxiola, ECD, Ogilvy & Mather Singapore
"I still remember the great Super Bowl ads. I saw Mean Joe Green toss his jersey to the boy in the tunnel, I was baffled by Apple's 1984 and, since then, I've been humbled by a list of Bud, Coke and E*Trade spots!"Yes, I saw them all. But now I'm wondering: is this still the high mark for our industry? Some brands aren't even suiting up this year. For the first time in 23 years Pepsi is giving the big game a pass. Instead, it's putting its money into social media and other relevant places we've now herded customers.
"It's a different world now. Not entirely a better one, but different."
Sean Boyle, global planning director, JWT
"When I worked in Asia, the Super Bowl was a kinda distant thing. One might hear that some American in Hanoi was trying to drum up attendees to his Budweiser-and-hot-dog party at 5 o' clock of a Monday morning. Ummm... no thanks, but do let me know who won."It's all very under-the-global-radar. Which is a trifle odd given that the winners are crowned 'World Champions'. And yet, last Sunday, for the XLIVth year in a row, both teams just happened to be from the EeuuEsssAaay, with the Saints now the very best football (very little 'foot' involved btw) team in the known Universe. Huzzah!
"The other thing for which the event is known in a World-Champion-in-an-exclusively-American-kinda-way, is as an exuberant TV commercial fest. The ads are as, if not more, important than the game itself. Which is all a bit bizarre, made more so by advertisers splooging close to a hundred grand for every second of time bought. Yes folks, that's US$100,000 per second, which is why I feel reviews such as this need to be über-critical.
"You make a Super Bowl spot by using any or all of the following: slapstick... a guy gets hit in the gonads with your product or a plank; animals or, even better, talking animals; a famous person doing something goofy to show they're not as big a tosser as you'd previously imagined; a dolt or a bunch of dolts doing doltish things, usually in an office; or, lastly, a car ad. That's the formula."
Here for your viewing pleasure are the ads and the (sometimes harsh) reviews:
Dr Pepper
NFL
Volkswagen
Coca-Cola
truTV
Emerald Nuts & Pop-Secret
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