Hyperbole 2014: Super Bowl 4th Quarter – Not so super Super Bowl ads

Each year for the past 7, we’ve divided up the Super Bowl and taken a look at the best and worst executions on the world’s largest/most expensive ad stage. Brooke has graciously broken down the fourth quarter for us here.

The Broncos lacked an offensive line. The halftime show lacked wardrobe malfunctions. And the commercials lacked strategy.

There were two obvious trends in this year’s Super Bowl ads: Patriotism and celebrity endorsements. It seemed like every commercial was either a B or C-list celebrity reciting a not-so-funny script or a photomontage of the American melting pot.

Have these agencies forgotten that even with a captive audience, they still need to be relevant, creative and on strategy?

I can’t sit here and say I know what each agency was trying to accomplish. Maybe they just wanted to entertain. Or in the case of the Ford Fusion spots, “make (Super Bowl) history.” But I will say, slapping in a couple recognizable faces isn’t going to make me want to buy $80,000 car (or a Coca-cola for that matter).

On the only day of the year that my profession is in the spotlight, I needed a little more creativity.

I did, however, enjoy these 4^th quarter ads:

T-mobile’s use of clever writing in this all-text ad that pokes fun at the over-use of celebrity endorsements.

And of course, the feel-good animal ad that has nothing to do with beer but makes you feel warm and fuzzy as if you’ve had a few.

Here’s to a more exciting and strategic Super Bowl XLVIIII.