BlOg 9: AnaLysIS oF SuPer bOwl aDs

The characteristics of successful television ads according to surveys and statistical information say that ads should be characterized for being creative, innovative and eye catching. However, even if the Super Bowl ads are fully covered with these characteristics they are also characterized for making the audience laugh, for introducing elements of shock and surprise, for putting more sight in the ad than sound, for using famous celebrities who promote their brands, for using memorable background music, for using talkative animated animals, among other things, in just a 30 second commercial.

For me, one of my favorite things about watching the Super Bowl football game is looking at the commercials. Throughout the years, I have considered that the Budweiser ads have stood out as being particularly funny. In fact, some of them have become a sort of pop-culture with regular people imitating them in real life. In particular I like the commercials of this brand because I consider they use the humor appeal as an effective method for attracting attention to the advertisements. Moreover, I like Budweiser´s commercials because they create a word of mouth buzz. In other words, they use extremely well the concept of Viral Marketing, which as we studied, refers to a form of online marketing where the customer passes on information to other potential customers, instead of companies contacting them directly. Budweiser was one of the first companies to embrace this, with the croaking frogs at the “Original Budweiser Frogs Commercial” in 1995 at the Super Bowl(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVcbasIb8lQ), or the “Wassup” parrots commercial launched in 2006 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgjxnHMF0zs) in the same event. The two previous commercials are well recognized for being eye catching and simple with “Bud-weis-er” or “Wassup” being repeated over and over. Additionally, these two ads were so memorable, that perhaps people might not remember who the winning football team was, but they should remember the commercials.

Furthermore, another commercial I really like about Budweiser at the Super Bowl is the “Bud Light Starring: Carlos Mencia” ad which is so funny and real. In this commercial, you can see how Carlos tries to teach some immigrants how Bud light gets it done all around the country… and if someone asks for a beer…. You must say: “I don´t speak English”. I think I like this commercial, because obviously it was targeted specifically for the Hispanic community who lives in the United States and who feel themselves identified with the context, as in my case.( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=670X2MCWzK0)

Moreover, I liked the Budweiser "Cedric" commercial which was launched in 2001 at the Super Bowl because I think it´s funny and humorous. In the commercial you can observe how the advertisers created a comical environment in which you can see how Cedric, an entertainer is romancing a very hot date, and when it's time to cool off just a little, he eases into the kitchen to grab two bottles of Bud Light from the fridge. Cedric was so "excited" with the prospect, so he does a little happy dance in the kitchen, accidentally shaking up the bottles in the process. The end of the evening comes too soon when he opens the bottles and the shaken beer explodes all over his date. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiECBowBa4c)

Another commercial I really like is the one called: “Bud Light, Apes”, which was launched in 2007 at the Super Bowl. This commercial, as all the commercials of Budweiser use a humorous appeal. In this ad you can notice how an ape is planning to steal a Budweiser with the help of another ape. However, the last one is so interested in smiling for a picture that it doesn´t realize what it needs to do to obtain the Budweiser, making the other ape mad. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oekYqamByD4&NR=1)

Finally, the last commercial I like of this same brand, is the funny 2006 Super Bowl Bud Light Beer advertisement “Roof repair”. I like this commercial because this is an awesome advertisement in which the ad features husbands who go onto their roof on the pretext of repairing it to chill out with Bud Light. But the funny part is that the one guy who actually is on the roof for repairs falls down. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q05QIp5qbnY).

In conclusion, throughout this work I have noticed that Super Bowl commercials are sometimes more exciting than the big game itself. I think for marketers and for people in general, it is a great way to see how creative the marketing industry can be, and I definitively believe that paying almost $3 million dollars for a 30 seconds commercial is worth it for companies who can obtain in just few seconds the same or a greater amount of money from their sales derived from the Super Bowl advertisements.