Hyperbole 2016 – Third Quarter
For the last nine years, 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. And this year, the Hyperbole tradition continues with our Director of All Things Digital, Nate Spry and the Third Quarter.
Doritos commercials aren’t exactly the most “high-brow” of advertising. Handing over the keys to the brand often results in a spot ranging anywhere from obnoxious to revolting. This time the Doritos Dogs save the day with this year’s Crash the Super Bowl winner going the safe route with dogs dressing a human to ultimately buy those Doritos they wanted so badly. Safe and forgettable, thank goodness.
MINI hits all of the right notes in a Super Bowl that contained a number of inclusive messages. MINI is a fun brand on its own, and takes advantage of this by embracing the small car reputation and delivering a message that at the same time embraces diversity and attempts to overcome the idea that the car is too tiny to be considered a car for everyone. Ultimately, the MINI Cooper Clubman doesn’t care what you call it. That’s a great message for the brand.
Anthony Hopkins did a great job in a spot that didn’t take itself seriously, and poked fun at the very medium that was being used to convey the message. Ultimately, this was a fun ad that actually served a purpose. turbotax.com is a web address that won’t soon be forgotten. Good girl, turbotax.com.
I imagine the Pokemon 20 commercial was great for fans of this long-lived gaming brand. As someone who does not fall in to this category, I can only say this was a well produced spot.
Another drug commercial. Look, Xifaxan I get it. You have a captive audience in a demo that you are likely to score sales with. But drug commercials make for awkward moments in this setting, and this one is the best example of the bunch. An anthropomorphic set of intestines that looks like a chewed-up piece of bubble gum is not something that I can identify with. What was the name of this drug again?
As I sat in the room with friends and family watching the LG OLED TV, we were ready, ready to buy whatever it was that Liam Neeson was selling. The Tron-like design combined with Mr. Neeson’s intense personality was intriguing and made us want to know what it was he was hawking. The trouble was, that it took so long to realize just exactly what that thing was, that we were already distracted and were after more chicken wings. A fun spot that took way too long to develop.
Movie trailers are movie trailers. X Men: Age of Apocalypse looks like another fun movie in the franchise, and features Louisville’s own Jennifer Lawrence for extra reason to pay attention.
Death Wish Coffee wins a big-budget spot paid for by Intuit. I’m not entirely sure how it is that swallowing a boatload of Vikings can cause anything but inappetence. But good for the little guy?
Butterfinger’s “Bolder than Bold” spot was irritating. That’s pretty much all I can say about the spot.
Fitbit’s spot for the Fitbit Blaze seemed more interested in showing how similarly it was designed to the Apple Watch, that they forgot to inform the audience about what exactly the device does. Well produced, but forgettable.
Using a bit of clever cross-promotion, Wix and Dreamworks team up with a play on popular Super Bowl commercials from the past. A cute commercial that wasn’t simply a movie trailer.
My personal winner (wiener?) of Super Bowl 50 was Heinz’s Meet the Ketchups commercials. In all honesty a bunch of dachshunds dressed as hot dogs is a bit unfair to the rest of the competition. It’s basically cheating.
Honda’s Ridgeline featured singing sheep, in an ad that seemed to be targeted to people who would not actually use the stylish pickup. Hilariously funny, with a catchy song in Queen’s “Somebody to Love”.
It’s a real shame that Budweiser’s product is out of vogue as consumers get smarter about their beer choices. This was a spot that lived up to the brand and should make any Bud drinker proud to be so.
Another hit was found in the NFL’s Super Bowl Babies spot. This was a creative, heartwarming and humorous approach to 50 years of Super Bowl history.
