Super Bowl Ads: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Super Bowl XLIX couldn’t have been a closer, more emotional game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. Luckily, the excitement of the game compensated for this year’s dramatic, gloomy ads. The Super Bowl, known for its highly anticipated commercials, missed the mark for entertainment this year, according to social media buzz. It did, however, dub 2015 as the year of the dad and family for American brands.
Esurance’s “Sorta Pharmacy” spot with Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston gave viewers a much-needed laugh amidst the more serious spots in last night’s $4.5 million dollar lineup. Cranston’s meth mastermind character, Walter White, made a surprise appearance as “Sorta Greg” in one of the more humorous Super Bowl ads.
“You’re not Greg…” she stammers, to which hazmat-clad Cranston growls, “I’m sorta Greg. We’re both over 50 years old, we both used to own a Pontiac Aztec, we both have a lot of experience with drugs – sorry, pharmaceuticals.”
Esurance’s high-profile “Sorta You Isn’t You” spots – one of which featured Lindsay Lohan as “Sorta Mom” – earned major points last night, trumping the dark Nationwide spot and revitalizing the redundant (but still quotable) “Gotta Get Some Cold Cuts” Geico commercial with former NFL football player, Ickey Woods.
Why it worked: Esurance’s chief marketing officer Alan Gellman knew his brand was a major player in the insurance industry but wanted to compete with the other big spenders like Geico and Progressive. “Maximizing awareness of our innovative offering for customers is important,” explained Gellman who teamed up with Leo Burnett for the “Sorta You Isn’t You” spot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ERlyKDvW1U
Jublia’s 30-second “Tackle It” spot was the underdog of this year’s Super Bowl ads. The Super Bowl debut for Valeant Pharmaceuticals didn’t put its best foot forward and hardly tackled the worst of this year’s ads – possibly even Kim Kardashian’s… very Kardashian spot for T-Mobile.
While the spot itself felt very incomplete and left many Americans shying away from the onion dip, you can’t help but wonder: who had the last laugh in this $4.5 million dollar joke?
Why we’re on the fence: Was it entertaining? Not at all. Did it generate buzz? Absolutely. America took to social media to scoff at the late-night infomercial style spot that aired during the Super Bowl for a whopping $4.5 million. Can we call it a flop? Not definitively. It lacked glamor points, sure, but it still has America chatting about fungus by the water cooler.
What was your favorite ad at this year’s Super Bowl? Tell us about it on our Facebook page, using hashtag #SuperBowlAds.