Ask yourself when was the last time any of the Super Bowl commercials were memorable for a brand? Did you remember the commercial for the brand or because of which celebrity was in it? Super Bowl commercials use to upstage the big game, now they’re just an unfortunate formality to watching the game.
For the amount of money these companies and brands spend on a 30 second spot for a commercial they would get a better return on their investment by investing back in their employees than wasting millions on a forgettable commercial. And that is the problem with the Super Bowl commercials these past 10 years or so; they’re not memorable. If I asked, “The talking frogs commercials or the guys saying Wassup are from what brand?” You would automatically say Budweiser. Coca Cola with Mean Joe Greene, the pigeons for Nissan, Cindy Crawford for Pepsi, what do they have all in common? They’re memorable for the brands and they convert into sales.
Maybe it was Janet Jackson’s nipple that scared brands into trying to be safe and clever. Whatever the reason there hasn’t been an ad that made me want to buy their products. And honestly the majority of these Super Bowl commercials don’t even make sense or feature a product. Majority of the ads are just trying to one up each other on which bigger celebrity they can feature.
Larry David did a commercial for who? How about Will Ferrell?
Commercials during the big game use to get consumers excited about products. You would walk into work and say, “Bud,” and the someone would go, “Weis,” followed by an “Er.” Now you go into work just as dejected as the losing team.
Brands are failing their consumers and are failing to attract new customers with these subpar ads. The problem with branding and digital marketing these days is that the smartest ones in the room are being silenced by those with a bigger salary. Having a bigger title and bigger salary doesn’t mean you know what the consumer wants. We want to be wowed and blown away by commercials during the Super Bowl. We want to be excited by the new product your company has coming out.
Now we’re just trying to wrap our minds around the nonsense we just saw like a limbless stripper trying to twirl around a pole. The disappointment is palpable but the brands aren’t listening. They continue to think they know what people want and their ignorance is failing them getting people interested in their brand or products.
Every ad just feels like it’s a celebrity being paid millions to phone in a poor performance. Nothing bold or innovative, just the same boring sentiment from brand to brand. Consumers want something to talk about and get excited for yet these brands continue to disappoint.
Remember when the new Apple iPods were going to be released and how excited you were that you couldn’t wait for them to come out months from the game? There is no excitement like that anymore. Ads these days during the Super Bowl are out of touch like having the Who perform at halftime.
Excited and eager consumers convert sales. They want the product. They need to have it. What was the last Super Bowl commercial that got you excited to make a purchase?
These commercials today just feel like it’s a dick measuring contest between brands as to who can get the biggest celebrity to “promote” their brand.
If brands want to make memorable content like the days of long ago they need to switch up their predictable tactics. You don’t need an A list celebrity to make an impression. You need great product and you need to get people excited about it. That’s it.